


Fate Works In Strange Ways

by Pearl09



Category: Captain America (Movies), Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Android! Bucky, Dad Hank, Gavin sucks, M/M, Mentions Kara, Mentions Markus, Mentions Sumo, Minor Violence, POV Steve Rogers, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Preferably from Bucky, Protective Bucky Barnes, Sorry if you like him, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Very minor unnamed original characters, detective! Steve Rogers, rated for language, some are original, some cases are from the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2019-10-08 00:05:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 22,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17375756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl09/pseuds/Pearl09
Summary: Detroit Police just hired a new detective: Steve Rogers. How he manages to land working with Lieutenant Hank Anderson on the biggest case the station has at the moment, he doesn’t know. But when Cyberlife sends two androids to help with the case, he didn’t think he’d be falling in love with one of them.Set during the game and continues a little after





	1. Case One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I just want to say, thank you so much for reading! Before we start I need to give credit where credit is due, this fic wouldn't exist without [this](http://umikochannart.tumblr.com/post/175991717417/breaking-you-with-love-last-request-for) piece of artwork! I hope you enjoy, remember to Kudos and comment if you do!

Detroit was becoming a madhouse thanks to the influx of androids coming from Cyberlife. As with all kinds of technology, there’s a chance they will break after a while. There are cases popping up all over the city where the androids coding is breaking, and they are acting almost like humans. 

Steve Rogers, an aspiring new Officer in the Detroit Police force, has just been assigned to help Lieutenant Hank Anderson in the deviant cases, so Steve can get into the field and gain experience from helping a more experienced officer. He just moved here from Brooklyn, having felt his time at the precinct there was over, so he moved out west.

Steve’s desk is behind the Lieutenant’s, so Steve sits down at his computer to look through all the reported deviant cases so far to see if there’s anything he can find that might link them in some way. He notices two other new desks next to his and Hank’s, and wonders if there are other new officers in the police force. He doesn’t have to wonder for long though when Captain Fowler comes over to him with a new person in tow.

“Captain Fowler,” Steve says, rising from his desk. He gets a good look at the other person with the Captain and realizes he isn’t a person at all; he’s an android.

“Detective Rogers,” Fowler starts. “Cyberlife has sent us androids to help in the investigation. Two new prototype models, programmed to be like detectives. RK800 and RK800-2, so we can tell the two apart. Connor has been assigned to Hank and is tracking the Lieutenant down now as we speak. This one is yours.” He turns to the android next to him, RK800-2.

The android steps forward and says, “Hello. My name is James Buchanan.”

Steve frowns. “That is an awful name for someone with a face like yours.”

“If you want, you can give me a nickname instead,” he answers with a smile.

“I’ll think about it.” Steve turns back to Fowler. “Is that all?”

“No. Connor went to find Hank because there was just a report of a deceased man in his own home, but his android is nowhere to be found. We fear it may be the murderer. Head down there right away.”

“Yes sir.” He turns to James and motions with his head to follow him.

Getting into the police car Steve has been assigned, he turns the lights on and waits for James to get in the passenger seat before he starts the drive across the city to the crime scene.

“Bucky,” Steve says, glancing over at the android. “I think I’ll call you Bucky.”

“I will take note of that,” answers Bucky.

The rest of the ride is silent, and they soon arrive at the scene.

Steve parks the car and steps out, walking towards the taped off house. He hears a car door close behind him and assumes Bucky is following behind.

Steve crosses the holographic tape line without a problem, saying, “He’s with me,” as he points his thumb over his shoulder towards Bucky.

Steve and Bucky stand around on the front porch of the house, out of the rain, as they wait for Hank to show up. Steve would join the men inside already, but he was partnered with Hank to learn from him, so he decided to wait.

Steve watches as a car with flashing lights shows up to the scene, and soon, Lieutenant Anderson is walking up the sidewalk, an android of his own following behind. 

“Lieutenant Anderson,” Steve says when Hank gets close enough, extending his hand.

Hank looks him over and shakes his hand. “You must be Detective Rogers.” He looks over Steve’s shoulder and sees Bucky. “They stuck you with one of those plastic assholes as well, huh?”

Bucky notices he is being talked about and says, “Hello. My name is James Buchanan.”

“Who the fuck names something that?” Hank asks, and Steve nods his head in agreement. 

“If it helps, Lieutenant, Detective Rogers has decided to call me Bucky.”

Hank raises an eyebrow at Steve. “Where the hell did you come up with that?”

Steve shrugs.

“Pardon me, Lieutenant,” Hank’s android says. “But we should focus on the case at hand.”

Hank rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, don’t get your ass bent out of shape.” Hank starts to walk in as the androids both look at him, confused.

Steve introduces himself to Hank’s android. “I’m Steve Rogers, new detective in the force.”

“My name is Connor; I’m the android sent by Cyberlife.”

“Yeah, I think I knew that last part already,” says Steve. He then motions with his head, saying, “Come on, let's get started.”

Connor manages to solve the homicide within an hour, and he even manages to find the deviant. Bucky doesn’t contribute much, and Steve starts to wonder why they were sent two androids.

“Hey Hank,” Steve asks as they wait for the body to be cleared out. “Did you notice how only one of the androids really did anything?”

Hank nods his head. “Does it really matter though? They’re both just fucking androids that we don’t need. If it has to be here, then I don’t fucking care what it does. As long as it doesn’t get in the way.”

Steve decides Hank is not going to help him figure it out, and instead of going to ask Bucky himself, he goes to Connor. He is more tolerant of androids than most of the police force, so he can stand a short conversation.

“Hey, Connor, was it?” Steve asks as he approaches the android, who was waiting on the porch for Hank.

“Can I help you, Detective Rogers?” Connor asks, turning towards him.

“I couldn’t help but notice that you did most of the investigation today, and Bucky just kind of… stood around.”

“That is an easy question. Seeing as you and Lieutenant Anderson will be working on a lot of the same cases, Cyberlife programmed both of us a little differently. Separately, RK800-2 is fully capable of doing everything I accomplished today in the investigation.”

“And together?”

“Cyberlife programmed us so that when we are together, I am more of a detective, while RK800-2 is ready to handle anything if the situation goes in an unwanted direction.”

Steve nods, following along with what Connor is saying. “So he’s more of the muscle in this situation.”

“Correct. But if I request help, he may give a second opinion on something while we are together.”

Steve nods again and looks around. “Well, thanks for the information. Where did Bucky get to, anyways?”

“I believe he is already in your car, Detective.”

“Well then,” Steve says, “Let Hank know I left, okay? I’ll head back to the station and start looking over the files again.”

Connor nods and Steve leaves, getting back into his car with Bucky. They start the drive back to the police station in silence.


	2. Case Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some walkie-talkie conversations in here and I looked up what they would actually say so it might sound kind of weird, but this is the only time I really use them, so if it's hard to read, don't worry, they're not coming back

Halfway back to the station, Bucky turns to Steve and says, “I just received a call that there was another reported deviant nearby, and Lieutenant Anderson has requested we check it out while he interrogates the android we just arrested.”

“Copy that,” Steve says, turning the flashing police lights back on again. “You know the way?”

Bucky acts as a GPS for Steve as they head into the middle of the city, stopping in front of a towering apartment building.

Steve steps out of the car and looks up at the building. “You sure this is the right spot?”

“Indeed, Detective. The apartment in question is close to the top.”

Steve starts to walk into the building but stops in front of the doors. “Please, call me Steve.”

“Noted. Shall we?” Bucky gestures to the front doors, letting Steve ahead of him.

They enter the apartment building together, and Steve follows Bucky up the elevator to the apartment in question. He knocks on the door saying, “Detroit police, open up!”

There’s a thud from somewhere in the apartment and a few seconds later, a woman opens the door, tears streaming down her face. She takes a look at Steve and starts sobbing harder, wrapping her arms around Steve’s midsection in a tight hug. “Help us, please!”

Steve holds his arms in the air and has a wild look in his eyes, but he motions to Bucky to go ahead in before settling his arms around the woman and soothing her. He has to hold her for five minutes before more police show up, and they take her off of him to get her out of the building, letting him finally get into the apartment to look around.

Steve can’t help but whistle as he looks around – for an apartment, it’s fancier than anything he’s ever seen before. It also takes up the whole floor of the building, so it takes him a while before finding where the problem was. 

He walks into the living room to see an unconscious man on the floor. He rushes over to the man and feels for a pulse, calling down the halls for a medic. Luckily the man is still alive, but Steve notices bruises wringing his neck before the medics arrive and rush him out of the building.

Bucky is in the other corner of the room, examining the furniture that has fallen over. “Why didn’t you call for help when you found the man?” Steve asks, a hint of anger in his voice.

Bucky turns around to look at him. “I’m sorry, I noticed he was still breathing so I thought it would be fine to wait until you came in for him. I started searching for the deviant instead.”

“Well, next time, victims take priority! What have you found?” 

“I can not tell for sure why the deviant attacked, but it clearly left the woman alone and only went after the man. I will need to examine the deviant to try and find a cause.”

“Well then, keep looking.” Steve searches around too, finding an unusual amount of bandages in the bathroom, as well as a large amount of pain medicine. He comes back out to where the man had been to see that he missed something – the man’s belt is laying on the floor haphazardly.

Steve pulls his walkie-talkie off of his hip and radios down to the police on the ground, “Eagle to ground, does someone have eyes on the woman? Over.”

“Affirmative, over,” comes the response from someone on the ground. 

“Tell me, are there any strange markings on her, like bruises or something? Over.”

It takes a few seconds before the next response comes in. “Affirmative, a line trailing across her back. They look fresh, over.”

“Ten-four. Over.” Steve puts his walkie-talkie back on his belt. “Bucky, have you found anything?”

“Possibly,” Bucky calls from somewhere else in the apartment, and it takes Steve a few seconds before he locates Bucky.

“Well, I think I might have found out why the android went deviant,” Steve says to Bucky once they are in the same room. “The man’s belt was on the ground in the living room, and the woman has a line of fresh marks on her back. Sounds to me like this is a case of domestic violence, and the android broke it’s programming to stop the man from hurting the woman. What do you think?”

Bucky nods. “I think that sounds reasonable based on your evidence. I also think you could ask it yourself.” He gestures to a door in the room, and Steve creeps over, being careful.

He opens it slowly, and light from the room spills into the dark closet, casting shadows on the cowering android’s face. Steve kneels in front of him, moving slowly to look less threatening.

“Hey there,” Steve says, holding his hands up. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

The android doesn’t respond, instead looking behind Steve at Bucky.

Steve continues. “Can you tell us what happened?”

“I couldn’t watch anymore,” the android says, shaking a little. “I had to step in this time.”

“What couldn’t you watch anymore?” Steve asks calmly, but apparently, the android has said enough. It quickly stands and pushes Steve over, running out of the room. 

Steve has to pull himself up as quickly as he can as Bucky starts to chase after the android. He shivers as he hears Bucky bellow, “Get back here!” in a menacing tone Steve has never heard from an android before. It reminds him of his old drill instructor yelling at him.

He follows the sounds of the chase and runs back into the living room just in time to see Bucky outside one of the windows before he disappears. Steve runs over and sticks his head out the window, seeing that the chase has moved to the fire escape. He pulls out his walkie-talkie and yells, “Eagle to ground, the deviant is running, south side of the building. Do not shoot; I repeat, do not shoot, my android is in pursuit. Over.” He then rushes out of the apartment and down the stairs as fast as he can. 

There’s a fire escape on the hallway window when he comes to one of the landings, so he quickly climbs out the window, looking up and over to see the two androids still racing down the fire escape on the other corner of the building. 

Steve curses his bad luck and yells out, “Hey, stop!”

The deviant sees him and its eyes grow wide, and in a split second decision, it hops the railing and jumps across the alley to the building next to them. Steve watches Bucky do the same thing, and he decides he has no other choice. He runs up a few flights to get a better height, and rolling his shoulders, pushes off of the wall and vaults the railing, leaping across the alley and barely managing to land on the edge of the building. 

He rolls to get rid of his momentum and runs after the two androids, seeing a shortcut that might let him catch up. He's almost fast enough to get in front of the deviant, but he manages to hit the only patch of ice on the roof and goes sliding off, barely grabbing hold of the edge.

He starts to pull himself up but sees a hand being offered. He gratefully takes it and sees once he’s up that it was Bucky who helped him.

“You stopped chasing the android?” Steve asks, and Bucky squares his shoulders.

“Saving you was more important, Steve. If the deviant was only stopping domestic violence, it could not be that bad for him to escape for the moment. Besides, I caught his serial number.”

“Thank you,” is all Steve can manage, feeling something warm and strange stir in his heart as he looks at Bucky, his hair framing his face perfectly, even after running like that. “But if Hank chews us out for letting him escape, I’m blaming you.” Steve rubs his hands together and then pulls his walkie-talkie back out, glancing over to Bucky. “Eagle and Wolf to ground, the deviant escaped. His serial number is–” he stops when he realizes he doesn’t know and holds the walkie-talkie out towards Bucky.

“Number 503 285 302, Model LM 100. Over.”

“Ten-four, over.”

Steve puts his radio back on his belt and turns to Bucky. “You know the way off of this roof? I have some paperwork to fill out on a domestic violence case.”

Bucky’s LED turns yellow for a few seconds and then is back to blue. “Follow me; I have found a safe route back to the ground.”

Steve follows Bucky along a few more roofs before they find an open roof access door, and they take the stairs back down to the ground and hop back into the police car, finally heading back to the station.


	3. Case Three

Steve was sent home to sleep when he got to the station, so he let Bucky go off on his own and crashed for almost twelve hours. He hastily showers when he wakes up and stuffs a bagel in his mouth as he runs out the door and gets in his car to go down to the station. When he gets there, Bucky is already there, sitting at the new desk next to Steve’s.

“Hello, Steve,” Bucky says as Steve sits at his own desk and starts to log into the computer. “Did you sleep well?”

“Wonderfully,” Steve says. “I nearly overslept.”

“But you still made it on time, so it does best to forget it. I went ahead and filled out the paperwork from the case last night if you wanted to review it before submission.”

“... Okay. Thanks.” Steve pulls the document in mention up on his computer and starts to read through it to make sure Bucky didn’t miss anything, but he really doubts there’s going to be anything he needs to add.

Hank comes into the office as Steve finishes reading, clearly having been drinking recently. “Rogers,” he says, stopping next to Steve’s desk. Steve looks up at him.

“Good afternoon, Hank.”

Hank scowls. “Did you really give yourself and the android fucking codenames?”

Steve flushes, spinning around in his chair as Hank sits down at his desk behind Steve’s. “I – thought it would be cool.”

“Just use your damn name. Not this stupid eagle and wolf bullshit.” He looks over at Bucky. “What made you pick wolf, anyways?”

Steve shrugs. “You should have seen him last night. He’s a real wolf in sheep's clothing.”

Hank rolls his eyes and takes a drink out of the bottle he brought in. “I heard you jumped across roofs last night as well.”

Steve nods sheepishly, looking down at the floor.

Hank sighs. “Look, kid, we might be police, and some people might consider us heroes, but we’re not damn superheroes. If you have to jump across a roof in pursuit of a suspect, then so be it. But remember that those damn robots will be able to handle more than we can, so you have to be more careful when chasing after them.”

Steve looks up at Hank and sees the same gruff expression he always wears, but his eyes look a little softer.

“You’ve got a good heart. I don’t want to see you leaving anytime soon. Now, get back to your damn work.”

Steve turns back to his computer, a small smile across his lips at Hank’s sort of compliment. 

“Where’s Connor?” Steve asks over his shoulder, and watches Hank freeze for a second and then take another drink. When he doesn’t answer, Steve turns back to his computer, deciding he took it a little too far for today and submits the document for official case filing.

It’s silent for a while in the office until Hank turns back around to talk to Steve. “There was another reported deviant case last night. I want you and the bucket of bolts to go and talk to the witness.”

Steve turns around and nods to Hank. “Yes, sir.”

“Cut that shit out; it’s just Hank. Now get the fuck out of here.”

Steve smiles and nods again, standing and motioning for Bucky to follow him. In the car, Bucky acts as a GPS again, as well as telling Steve word for word the current case file.

“Last night, the police were called to one Carl Manfred’s house by his android, reporting a possible break-in. When the two officers dispatched arrived on the scene, the older gentleman, Carl, was out of his wheelchair and on the floor, leaning over his unconscious son. The police thought the android was a threat and shot it. It has already been disposed of, but the officers did not question Carl about the deviant.”

“So now that’s up to us, I guess.” Steve glances over at Bucky and sees the way his hair curls around his ear, and promptly looks away so he doesn’t crash the car, his heart beating a little faster than normal.

Bucky doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary though, and they arrive at the house without any problems. 

Steve steps out of the car and stares up at the house for a few seconds as Bucky comes around the car. “Damn, I swear Hank is sending us to all these fancy houses to make me feel jealous,” Steve jokes.

“I’m sure Hank isn’t doing that on purpose,” Bucky says, “I think he’s showing you that he believes you are a good enough detective to be able to do cases on your own.”

“Oh,” Steve says, his sudden rush of emotion not letting him tell Bucky he was just joking. He swallows and says, “Well, duty calls.”

They walk to the front door together and knock, waiting patiently for someone to answer. A few seconds pass before an android opens the door.

“Can I help you?” he asks, and Steve takes his badge out. 

“Detroit Police, we were wondering if Carl Manfred has time to answer a few questions?”

“Do you mind waiting while I go ask him? His health is not the best at the moment, so he may not be up for it.”

Steve nods. “Of course.”

The door closes and Steve turns to Bucky. “I thought you said they got rid of the android?”

“They did. This is a new model.”

“That was a fast replacement. Maybe he wasn’t attached to his other android?”

Bucky shakes his head. “Mr. Manfred is seventy-five and has a lot of health issues. His son, Leo Manfred, does not live at home anymore, so the androids are to help Mr. Manfred.”

Steve makes an impressed face. “You look all that up that fast?”

“I have access to all of the archives the station possesses. That is the only information I am going through at the moment.”

The android opens the door again. “Carl said he is more than willing to talk, but he might not be able to last long, so please, ask the important questions first.”

Steve nods and the android leads them into the house. Steve marvels at the sight as they walk through the artists home until they finally stop in the middle of what seems to be Carl's studio.

“Good afternoon, Detective,” Carl says from a wheelchair, looking at one of the paintings on an easel.

“Please, call me Steve. And this is Bucky.” Steve walks over to the old man and pulls a notepad out. “I understand that the police who were here last night already asked questions, so I am sorry to bother you again. You see, we're compiling a case file on reported deviancy in androids, so I have different questions that will need to go towards our case.”

Carl nods and tears his eyes away from the painting. “Go ahead.”

Steve starts writing as he asks, “Before last night, was there anything you noticed wrong with your android?”

Carl shakes his head. “Markus was like a son to me. He was kind and gentle, and in turn, I was kind and gentle to him.” Carl smiles wistfully. “We played chess yesterday. He won because he knew that I would be mad if he had let me win.”

Steve smiles. “Sounds like your android was the perfect caretaker. Do you mind me asking how long he had been with you?”

Carl frowns. “I don't quite remember. I know it was when my health really started to deteriorate. I think that was around the time androids first started becoming popular.”

Steve nods and continues writing. “Okay. Do you mind telling me what exactly happened last night?”

Carl nods and thinks a little before answering. “Markus and I just got back from one of my art exhibitions. He was about to get me a drink when I noticed the light was still on in here. Markus swore he turned the light off, so he called the cops and then went in to investigate. My son, Leo, was here, trying to take some of my paintings so he could get some money after I refused earlier yesterday. This lead to him fighting Markus, and, even though I told Markus not to do anything, Markus pushed back. Leo's in the hospital now because of the gash on his head when he fell onto my machine there. Then, the police came in, and, assuming Markus was the perpetrator, shot him.”

“I'm sorry this happened to you,” Steve says, and then he looks up from his notepad. “Anything else you want to say for the file? Then we can get out of your hair.”

“Yeah,” Carl says, adjusting himself in his seat. “Markus was a good man. He was roughed up in a protest and didn't even say anything derogatory about the people who did it to him. Don't let this one incident tarnish his name.”

Steve nods and smiles again. “Of course, sir. We'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Have a good rest of the day.” 

“You too,” Carl responds and then turns back to stare at the painting. 

Steve and Bucky follow the android back out to the front door and then go back to the car.

Once in the car, Steve doesn't start it right away, instead turning to Bucky. “I'm assuming you spent your time as you were standing there looking around the room?”

Bucky nods. “His story matches up with what was put in the file last night. I noticed traces of Lithium on the floor, which also match when the android would have been shot.”

“Lithium?” Steve inquires.

“You would know it as Blue Blood. It's what powers androids. It dries quickly, so it becomes invisible to the human eye.”

Steve nods. “Okay. Anything else you noticed?”

“Yes. Did you notice the painting Mr. Manfred was looking at?”

Steve shrugs. “Not really. He is an artist after all, so it might have just been what he was working on recently.”

“It wasn’t,” Bucky states matter of factly, and Steve crosses his arms. 

“Okay then, Mr. My Eyes Are Better Than Yours, tell me what it is instead of gloating about it.”

“Mr. Manfred had some of his paintings in the studio, and I compared the brush strokes between some of the other paintings and the one he was looking at. For the one he was looking at, the brush strokes were perfectly even, and the paint was the same level of thickness across the entire canvas. On all the other paintings, the paint clumps up in certain places, as well as each stroke being slightly different from each other.”

Steve’s eyes grow wide. “You’re saying the deviant painted it?”

“I’m saying it’s a possibility that the android had painted it. Being that it seems to be too perfect for a normal person, then it is more than likely.”

Steve frowns and then starts the car. “Don’t let me forget to write that into the report along with his answers then.”

“Of course.”

They start the drive back to the station then, having no idea what they are really getting themselves into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Connor is dead. He died at the interrogation along with the other android. No, I will not be killing him anymore, I just needed it for some plot later on :)


	4. DPD

Steve is sitting at his desk, almost finished typing the report, when Hank comes back into the station with Connor in tow after a mission of their own.

“Hey Hank,” Steve says when he spots them. “How’d it go?”

Hank glowers. “We couldn’t find the damn thing anywhere. Apparently, the android ran off with the owner’s daughter, and that’s why we were searching for them.”

“So we don’t know how far they’ve gotten now, huh?”

Hank nods and flops down into his chair. “Ask the fucking tin-can for his opinion. Go ahead.”

Steve raises an eyebrow and then looks to Connor, who says, “We went to talk to the father after we couldn’t find the two. There were obvious signs of a struggle, pointing to happening only yesterday. If that is to be believed, then we can assume the deviant broke it’s programming to help the little girl, thinking her father was going to hurt her.”

Steve nods and brings his hand up to his face, thinking. “It wouldn’t be the first one to break trying to protect someone else. The case we had the other day, where the deviant escaped us? He had broken his programming to try and save the woman from a nasty case of domestic abuse.”

Bucky nods to back up what Steve is saying. When Hank doesn’t answer, Steve turns back to his computer to finish typing up the report.

Hank sighs and Steve hears him take a drink, presumably from some kind of alcohol. Then Hank says, “Damn it, I don’t want to type up this report. Connor?”

Steve looks at Connor and sees his LED is yellow. After a few seconds, it turns blue, and Connor says, “It’s been written, Lieutenant. Would you like to read over it or should I just submit it?”

Hank waves his hand, saying, “I’m not going to read over that shit; just send it.”

Steve gapes at them, saying, “You could do that this whole time? Bucky, are you saying you could have written this for me as well?”

Connor winks at Steve as Bucky responds, “I could have, but you seemed intent on doing it yourself, so I refrained from generating reports unless you asked me to.”

Hank turns to Steve, saying, “You’ve gotta learn how to use the technology at hand if you want to get ahead at the game. Even if that means using a fucking android.”

Steve turns to Bucky. “Next time, write the report, please. That’ll save me a ton of time, and we can focus more on trying to pinpoint a similarity between all of these cases.”

“Okay,” answers Bucky.

“Well well well. Look what the cat dragged in.” Gavin strolls over to the four with a smirk on his face. “A bunch of plastic assholes trying to imitate humans.”

Hank rolls his eyes and puts his face in his hands. “Looks like someone forgot to take out the trash,” he mumbles loud enough for Steve to hear.

“And look! Our little greenhorn. Makes sense they’d stick you with the androids. But Anderson? Why the fuck do you still hang with them?”

“Because it’s my fucking job, Gavin. I was told to work with them, so I’m fucking working with them. Now get your ass out of here and fuck off.”

Steve scowls. He hadn’t properly been introduced to Gavin yet, but now, he wishes he never was.

“You haven’t asked Fowler for a reassignment? Even after what happened to your son?”

Hank clenches his fists and scowls, trying to ignore Gavin. Bucky notices and slams his fist on his desk, standing at the same time. Steve jumps at the noise and watches as Bucky walks calmly over to Gavin.

Bucky’s voice gets low as he says, “Listen here. You have no right to get into someone's business like that. If Hank hasn’t requested a reassignment, then it’s none of your god damned business.” Bucky takes a step closer to Gavin, and he, in turn, takes a step back, his smirk long gone. “Now, I suggest you get your ass out of my sight before I make you leave.”

Gavin nods and backs away slowly. Once he’s clear, he quickly walks away.

Bucky walks back to his seat and sits down as if nothing had happened. Connor acts the same way, while Steve and Hank sit in stunned silence, staring at Bucky.

Hank clears his throat. “Thanks. You, uh, you didn’t have to do that.”

Bucky smiles. “It was my pleasure, Hank. He was obviously being rude, and I could see it in Steve’s face that if I didn’t get up, he would. So I made a choice and went myself, just in case Gavin was planning on hurting him.”

Hank looks over to Steve, who is still looking at Bucky. He opens his mouth, hesitates, and then says, “Looks like you managed to get a good one.” 

Steve looks to Hank questioningly, not quite sure what he meant by that. Hank just shakes his head and turns back to his computer. 

After reviewing some of the previous cases in the file, Hank turns back to Steve. “Get out of here, kid, it’s getting late. Go home; get some rest.”

“You sure?” Steve asks, willing to stay and continue to look over the file. 

“Yeah, we don’t have any leads at the moment anyway. Get some rest; I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”

Steve nods. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He logs out, and Bucky follows him out of the station.

Steve turns red, blaming it on the cold as he says, “Do you have somewhere to go? I have room if you need it."

“I’m good Steve. I have a mission to follow, so I will continue that as you go rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Steve nods, slightly disappointed. “Okay. See you then.”

He gets in his car and drives back to his apartment, ready to get some sleep.


	5. Case Four

Steve parks his car and enters the station the next morning to see it empty. No Hank, no Connor, no Bucky. Steve sits down at his computer and then looks around again to see if he just missed one of them. When he confirms that none of them are there, he pulls his phone out and opens a search engine. 

He takes a deep breath and types out his question. _Can people fall in love with androids?_

He’s surprised by how many results there are. He scrolls through the first page of results and settles on the most popular one.  
_  
Are you wondering about your neighbor's crazy habits? Are you yourself wondering about your android? Well, look no further! All of your answers are right here._

_According to renowned scientist Dr. Nikolas Rivers, “It is completely natural for a human to develop feelings for these androids. Humans pack bond with anything and everything very easily. Being that these androids have passed the Turing test and can pass as humans, it makes sense for someone with a high level of empathy to fall in love with an android.”_

_There are a lot of people coming forward claiming to have fallen in love with an android. Some have even made it to court, claiming they fell in love with their neighbor’s android and try to gain custody of said android._

_No matter how you feel towards androids, remember that they do not have feelings, so they can not return yours in any way._  
  
Steve throws his phone down in a huff. He doesn’t know why he’s getting so upset over this, or where it’s coming from all of a sudden. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He could really use a distraction right now. 

The door slams open suddenly and Steve jumps, quickly grabbing his phone and clearing the article off of it.

Hank looks over at him. “Steve! Good. You’re here. Get ready, there was another case.”

Connor and Bucky follow in behind him as Steve stands. “What is it this time?” He follows Hank down the hall to the armory, where Bucky and Connor wait outside. 

“Rouge deviant who has gone a little crazy. A little meaning it fucking murdered its owners and was seen threatening all the neighbors before retreating back into the house.”

“So.. Heavy weaponry?” Steve asks, then looks towards the door. “What about the androids?”

“We aren’t supposed to give them weapons, in case they go deviant themselves, so they'll just have to be careful.”

Steve frowns and pulls a bullet vest on. He pulls a gun off of the shelf and holsters it and then picks up a riot shield, examining it. Hank glances over and does a double take.

“Why the fuck are you looking at that, Rogers?”

Steve shrugs. “Riot shields are handier than you think, Hank.”

“And where do you think you're gonna hold it?”

Steve pauses and looks over it again, and then sees a rope nearby. He runs the rope through the arm straps and makes it so he can swing the shield around easily, and then ties it to his back.

“You look like a fucking ass. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Steve starts to back out of the room as he points finger guns at Hank. “I’d rather look ridiculous than be dead.”

Hank rolls his eyes and Steve turns around to leave the room. Connor and Bucky are in the hallway, waiting patiently.

“A riot shield?” Bucky asks when he sees Steve. “Good choice of protection.”

“Thank you,” says Steve. “At least someone thinks it’s a good thing to bring.”

Connor speaks up, saying, “Might I ask why it’s on your back though?”

“Well I can’t carry it around on my arm all the time, can I? Look.” Steve uses the rope contraption he quickly put together to show Connor how he can swing it off of his back real quick, but fumbles around trying to get his arm through the straps. 

Hank comes out while Steve is messing around with the straps. “Come on, Steve. We’ve got to get going.”

“Yeah, uh, just let me adjust these straps real quick.” Steve struggles to adjust it with only one hand, so Bucky steps up into Steve’s space and quietly adjusts the straps for Steve, making them tight enough that it won’t fall off but loose enough that he can quickly put it on and take it off. Steve grows red as Bucky stands close.

Bucky steps back and Steve gulps, letting out a low, “Thanks.” He takes the shield off of his arm and puts it on his back again. He clears his throat and starts to walk towards Hank, who is already down the end of the hallway. Hank looks at him strangely but doesn’t say anything.

“Come on; let’s get moving.”

Hank leads the group outside and takes one of the vans for them to use. Sitting up front, Connor joins him, leaving Steve and Bucky to climb in the back and hold onto the railings.

“Is everything alright, Steve?” Bucky asks, looking almost genuinely concerned about Steve.

“Aces,” Steve coughs out. He then offers Bucky a smile, but Bucky doesn’t seem convinced. Lucky for Steve, Hank stops the car before Bucky can say anything else, and then they are getting out.

Hank comes over to Steve, and the two of them lead with the androids behind them.

“Keep your eyes sharp,” whispers Hank. “And don’t get fucking shot. I’d rather not have to get a replacement partner for this case.”

Steve smiles and nods. “I’ll try not to.” He pulls the riot shield off of his back as they sneak up to the house in question, sliding it onto his arm. 

The group makes it to the house without an incident, so they go to the front door. Steve and Bucky stand against the wall closest to the door handle, while Hank and Connor take the other side. Steve moves and kicks the door under the handle as hard as he can, feeling it budge under his foot. He kicks again and again until the lock finally breaks and the door swings open violently, crashing into the wall behind it. Hank already has his gun up and ready, so Steve pulls his out now, holding it above the shield and making sure everyone stays behind him. 

“Any trace of the android?” Steve whispers, directing the question to either Connor or Bucky.

“There’s some blue blood on the wall up ahead,” Bucky whispers back, and Steve grips his gun tighter as they approach an entryway.

He pauses and quickly turns around the corner to make sure the android isn’t hiding there. Hank does the same on the other side of the door, and it’s all clear. They motion to the two androids to follow them. Connor and Bucky keep whispering to Hank and Steve when they see something that could be because of the android as they clear the first floor. 

They turn around and head for the stairs back near the front door when Steve freezes, thinking he heard something. He looks up at the ceiling to see if the noise will happen again, but it doesn’t. He almost moves again when another noise is made. Steve turns to look at Hank, who nods, confirming that he heard it too. Hank then gestures for Steve to continue, but slowly. They advance without making a sound, Steve being careful to move his foot if the floorboards feel like they might creak under it.

A loud crash is heard from above and Steve freezes again as they hear something running upstairs. With the stairs now in view, they see the android start to run down them. Steve aims his gun at the android, trying not to shoot unless the android shoots first.

The android hits the bottom of the stairs and turns around the corner, freezing when she sees Hank and Steve pointing guns at her, a pistol in her hand. She quickly pulls it up and shoots at the group as she runs across the room to the front door. Steve ducks his head behind the shield as Hank shoots at her, but she makes it out of the house without any damage. Connor is already chasing after her, and Hank chases after him.

Steve goes to start chasing as well, but Bucky puts a hand on his arm and holds him back. 

“Do you trust me with a gun?” Bucky asks, and Steve barely hesitates before he slings the rifle he found in the truck off of his shoulder and hands it over to Bucky.

Steve chases after Hank, leaving Bucky behind to do whatever Bucky was planning on doing. Hank and the two androids are already halfway down the block so Steve runs as fast as he can to catch up to them. It’s not hard for him to catch up to and pass Hank, but being that the androids are not human, he can’t gain on them. He is still running at the same speed as them, which is an impressive feat in itself.

The android keeps holding its arm out behind its back and shooting, making Steve duck behind his riot shield every time to make sure he doesn’t get hit. He hears Hank on his radio, saying, “Just shoot the fucking thing, dammit! We don’t need it alive if its terrorizing people!”

Steve slings the shield over onto his back so he can use both hands to try and steady his pistol so he doesn’t hit Connor. He shoots, but misses, hitting the car next to the android instead. He swears under his breath and pulls his radio out as he continues to run. “I can’t hit her without putting Connor in danger!”

Hank swears on the other end of the radio. Suddenly, a loud gunshot rings out, and the android drops. Connor runs over to it and Steve slows down to a jog, making him the second one to the body. He crouches to examine her as Connor stands up, looking back in the direction they came from. There was a single bullet, straight to the back of her head, effectively hitting her synthetic brain and killing her.

Hank finally makes it and puts his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. “Steve, how the fuck can you run that fast?” He takes another couple of panting breaths before continuing, “You should be in the Olympics or something.”

Steve shrugs. “I ran a lot in High School and College.” He stands and faces Hank, who rights himself.

Hank gestures to the android. “What happened to it?”

Connor answers for Steve. “A bullet hit the back of the head, going straight into the bio-component that assimilates the human brain.”

“So the bullet killed it?” asks Hank, and Connor nods. “Who shot it?”

At that moment, Bucky appears from the alley next to them and hands Steve the rifle back. Steve takes it from him and Hank lifts his head in understanding.

“So you’re useful after all then, and not just some random asshole.” Hank starts to turn away, but he looks back over his shoulder at Bucky and says, “Nice shot.”

Hank pulls a phone out to call to the station for a cleanup crew, so Steve starts to push the crowd away from the scene. Bucky and Connor help him until they have pushed everyone back to a respectable distance.

Another police car comes soon after and Hank talks to the officers who get out of it for a minute before letting them clean up the body. He then motions to Steve, Bucky, and Connor to follow him, and they all go back to the van.

“They said they’ll take it from here, so let's head back. See if we can determine anything about this particular android.” He walks over to the back of the van and opens it, taking off his weapons and the vest. Connor walks over and talks to him as he does this. Steve stays at a distance as he unties the rope from the shield but keeps an eye on them. He notices that Hank seems to have softened a little regarding androids; being that he is talking with Connor and not just ignoring him. 

“Are you okay, Steve?” Bucky says, startling Steve out of his thoughts. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m good,” Steve says, trying to disguise his racing heartbeat. “You, uh, you did a good job back there. Really saved our asses.”

Bucky smiles and Steve’s heart flutters, but he blames it on his still hammering heart after being startled. He looks back to the van and sees Hank and Connor getting back into the front, so Steve leads Bucky back inside so they can get back to the station.


	6. Home

Steve is pacing his living room angrily, on the phone with Hank. “I just sprained it; I don’t need to stay home for this case! Yes, yes, I understand, but it doesn’t hurt. I’m pacing my living room now, and it’s fine.” He sighs and rubs his hand down his face. “Yes, I know. I can chase down a fucking android without a problem, but stairs? No. I had to fall and twist my ankle.” He pauses and listens, and then sighs again. “Okay. Okay, I understand. I’ll see you Friday.” He hangs up and looks down at his phone before throwing it at the couch. He flops down next to his phone and puts his foot up on the coffee table, turning the TV on before slumping down grumpily. He hates that he’s not allowed to be working when all he did is twist his ankle, and especially hates that it happened because he fell down the stairs.

The doorbell rings and Steve pauses the TV. “Hold on a second, I’m coming!” he yells, hoping whoever is there can hear him. He moves his foot back off of the coffee table and walks over to the door, unlocking it. He pulls it open to see Bucky, and he can’t help the smile that spreads across his face.

“Hey, Buck, come on in.” He moves out of the way and back toward the living room so Bucky can come in. “What’s up?”

“I was told at the station that you were injured and given part of the week off to heal. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Steve sits back down on the couch and props his foot back on the coffee table. “Thanks, but I think I’m okay. You’re welcome to stay though,” Steve adds in a rush, immediately regretting it.

Bucky looks at his foot. “Is that all you’re doing for it?”

Steve looks at him and then says, “Well, yeah, it’s fine like this. It doesn’t hurt that much.” He watches Bucky’s LED spin to yellow before coming back to blue.

“I have looked up how to take care of a sprained ankle properly, and you aren’t doing anything right.” With that, Bucky walks further into the house, leaving Steve to watch him go as he shakes his head. 

Steve turns the TV back on as he waits to see what Bucky is doing. When he returns, his arms are full of things, and he sets them on the coffee table as Steve pauses the TV again. 

“What is all of that for?” Steve asks, not thinking he needs any of it. 

Bucky pulls an ace bandage out of the pile. “First we need to wrap your ankle up.” Steve tries to protest but Bucky won’t listen, so Steve resigns to it as Bucky lifts his leg, tightly wrapping up Steve’s ankle. “Does that hurt? Is it too tight?”

Steve shakes his head. “It’s fine, Bucky.”

Bucky nods and then picks the next item out of the pile. “This pillow is so you can get your leg up higher, just the coffee table isn’t high enough.” He slides it under Steve’s foot and carefully sets his leg back down on the table. He picks up a bottle of pills and sets it on the end table next to Steve. “Pain medicine in case it hurts, and,” he picks the last item up. “Ice. I will keep an eye on it to make sure it’s not going to be on longer than it’s supposed to.” He places the ice pack on the top of Steve’s ankle. 

“So you’re staying then?” Steve asks.

Bucky nods. “You have to sit and rest, and I know you. You won’t do that unless someone is here to force you.”

Steve smiles and shakes his head. “Okay then. Make yourself at home.” He leans his head back against the couch and turns the TV show back on. 

In twenty minutes, Bucky takes the ice off of Steve’s ankle and disappears into the kitchen with it. He reappears with a glass of water in his hand. “It’s important for you to stay hydrated.”

Steve takes the water from him and takes a drink, setting it on the table next to the bottle of pills. He picks his phone up and says, “If I order a pizza, will you get it for me?”

“Of course. I don’t want you getting up unless it’s absolutely necessary, like if you need to use the bathroom.”

Steve calls the pizza shop and orders his regular – a small meat lovers pizza with an order of cheese and bacon fries. “It’ll be here in around half an hour,” he calls out to Bucky, who moved to a different room in the house. Bucky reappears again with Steve’s wallet in hand and goes to stand by the door to wait for Steve’s pizza.

Steve hears a knock at the door and turns the TV down, knowing Bucky will be in with his food soon. He hears the door close, and Bucky comes back in with the boxes, setting it down on the coffee table next to Steve. “I’ll go grab some napkins,” he says, and Steve reaches for the food as he leaves again. Being as he is the only person eating, Steve forgoes the plate and just sets the entire pizza box on his lap.

Bucky sets napkins down next to Steve, puts the ice pack back on his ankle, and then stands in the doorway. Steve glances over at him as he’s taking a bite of his pizza, and through a mouthful of food, he says, “Come here and sit, you’re making me nervous.”

Bucky does as he’s told and watches the TV as Steve eats his way through half of the pizza and starts on the fries. “You know, that stuff is really bad for you.”

Steve raises his eyebrow at Bucky as he continues to chew.

“Each slice of that pizza is 310 calories, and one serving of those fries is 330.”

Steve shrugs. “I can eat this all day.” He rolls his eyes at Bucky’s still disappointed gaze and says, “I have a fast metabolism, I need more calories than the average.”

Bucky looks at him curiously. “Do you know the reason?”

Steve shakes his head. “Doctors said it was normal. After all, there is an average for a reason, some people have to be higher than others, and some people have to be lower than others.” He finishes his food without any other questions from Bucky, but then the TV finishes the marathon of the show he was watching and can’t find anything else he wants to watch.

Steve drops his head to the back of the couch and sighs, turning the TV off. “I wish Hank would just let me come in, even if it was just to do paperwork.”

“Would you like to review our previous case files?” Bucky asks, and Steve perks up.

“You have them?” Steve asks, suddenly interested.

“I can go print them out for you if you’d like.” Steve nods, so Bucky goes to find the printer. He hands Steve a stack of papers when he gets back and sits down next to Steve, watching him as he goes over the cases they’ve had to deal with sofar.

“I’m not seeing anything that connects these androids, are you?” Steve asks as he shuffles through papers. 

“There is the question of who is RA9,” Bucky answers. “We’ve found that in a lot of places where the deviants have been.”

“Yeah, but not all of them. That last one you killed, they searched the house and there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Also, that one we were chasing and got away; there was nothing in that apartment either.”

“What about this one?” Bucky asks, pulling some papers out of the stack. “This happened near here, Hank and Connor had looked into it.”

Steve takes the papers off of Bucky and reads through them. “Ah. Kara. I remember her; she lived over in the next block. She was repaired recently, should have seen what that jerk Todd did to her.”

Bucky looks over at Steve curiously. “What happened?”

Steve shrugs. “I don’t know for sure. I do know that Todd has a daughter, and he doesn’t treat her very well. Best guess is, Kara stepped in, and then he broke her because of it.” He reads through the report. “Sounds like it happened again this time too. I’ve been trying to bust him on drug usage for a while now, but I can’t get a warrant, and I don’t have enough evidence for reasonable suspicion.”

“There was no RA9 found at their place either,” Bucky says. “In fact, this is the only case in the file that doesn’t involve a human getting hurt.”

Steve presses his lips together, thinking, before throwing the papers back on the table in exasperation. “I don’t think we have enough to come to any conclusions yet. We need more cases, which unfortunately means there’s probably going to be more deaths.” He sighs and rests his head against the back of the couch, closing his eyes. “I’m gonna sleep on it, and then we can look at this again with fresh eyes in the morning.” He opens his eyes again and starts to move to get up.

Bucky stands quickly next to him and effortlessly scoops Steve up, ignoring all of Steve’s protests and carrying him into the bedroom, setting him down on the bed.

“I would have been fine walking myself,” Steve mutters, his cheeks pink with embarrassment. 

“Anything else you would like me to do?” Bucky asks, and Steve shakes his head. 

“You’re welcome to stay here for the rest of the night, but I do need to change into different clothes, so I’d appreciate it if you could leave the bedroom?”

Bucky nods and closes the door behind him as he leaves. Steve sighs and stands, walking with a slight limp over to his dresser to find some pajamas to wear. He changes and then puts a pillow at the end of his bed, climbing in and elevating his foot on the pillow. He turns the light off and nestles into the covers, trying not to think about Bucky still being in the house.


	7. Case Five

“Hank has requested for us to come in,” Bucky says from the door as Steve pulls his shoes on.

“He did, huh? How did he ask you?”

“Well, technically Connor is currently driving him over to the scene because he has a hangover, so Connor contacted me, requesting we meet them there.”

Steve nods and stands. “Okay. You know the way? Let’s get going.”

Steve locks his front door as Bucky goes to get in the car before joining him and starting the car up. He follows Bucky’s directions until they arrive outside in the middle of the city. 

“Are you sure this is the place?” Steve asks, looking up at the bright neon pink sign of the Eden Club.

“Yes,” Bucky says, and then to add further emphasis, points down the block at a car. Steve follows the direction he’s pointing and sees Hank’s car is parked there.

Gavin walks out of the building as Steve and Bucky walk up towards it, confirming for Steve that the sex club is really where they need to go. Gavin and Bucky glare at each other as they walk by, but neither of them say anything, and Steve is glad they didn’t start fighting. 

Steve spots Hank and Connor across the empty club and walks straight towards them, resolutely not looking at any of the androids on display. Connor and Hank finish talking to someone and turn around just as Steve and Bucky make it over to them.

“Nice shirt, Hank,” Steve teases, referencing the orange and white striped shirt he was wearing. Hank just rolls his eyes and doesn’t say anything. Connor and Bucky walk off into the room blocked off by police tape.

“Nasty stuff here,” Hank says. “Some guy rented out an android and was murdered. It’s in there, completely destroyed.”

“So the android committed the murder?” Steve asks, and Hank nods.

“Most likely. We’ll let the two take a look and see what they come up with.”

Steve and Hank walk into the room together and Steve sees that the android is indeed demolished on the floor. The man’s lifeless body lays there too, clearly strangled to death.

Connor stands from his crouching position in front of the android and turns to face Steve and Hank. “It wasn’t alone, there was another model in here. He rented out two of them, so the other is still at large.”

“I’ll go see if there were any witnesses,” Steve says, and then he walks out of the room.

He spots the club owner and walks back over to him. “Do you know if there were any witnesses?” Steve asks.

He shakes his head. “We pride ourselves in our privacy with clients. Once he was in the room, there would have been no way for anyone else to get in there. We even wipe the android's memories every two hours, so there is no footage left of whatever our clients do with them.”

Steve purses his lips and nods. “Okay. Thanks.” He turns away and sees Bucky walking over to him, Connor and Hank on the other side of the club. 

“Steve,” Bucky says when he gets there. “I need your help.”

“What’s up? You found something?”

He points at the wall behind Steve. “I need you to rent that android.”

Steve turns around to see the male android standing perfectly still in the cylindrical case. He turns back to Bucky with wide eyes. “Why would I want to do that?”

Bucky walks over to the side of the cylinder. “As an android, I can not rent them. But you can.”

“Why do we need the android though?!” Steve exclaims, growing flustered.

“You heard what was just said. The android’s memories are reset every two hours. The models along the walls have their eyes open. There’s still a few minutes before we lose the memories, but some of the androids have seen the murderer.”

Steve realizes that Bucky is right, so he regretfully places his hand on the lock, buying the android and unlocking the cylinder.

“Thirty dollars? Why is it so much!”

The android steps out and looks at Bucky, who is standing in front of him. Bucky grabs the android’s hand, and on both of them, their synthetic skin disappears, the whitish gray covering over their machinery showing. They stand like that for a few seconds, frozen perfectly still, before Bucky lets go and steps back.

“The android in question was a Traci model with blue hair, and it went this way.” Bucky leads Steve through the club until they are out of sight of the first one Steve rented.

Bucky looks around, and Steve does too, looking for any blue haired androids.

“Rent this one,” Bucky says, walking up to one of the androids. 

“What, do you think I’m made of money? How am I supposed to pay rent if I spend it all renting these sex androids?” As he says it, he walks over and rents the bot in question anyway.

“Tell Captain Fowler and ask for the money back,” Bucky says before grabbing this android’s hand.

“Anything?” Steve asks when Bucky steps back again.

“Maybe. It might be in there,” Bucky says, pointing towards one of the currently unoccupied rooms. 

Steve walks over to it and activates the motion sensor, waiting a few seconds to see if the android will run out now that the door is open. When no one comes out, he carefully walks in, only to find the room empty. He walks back out and looks at Bucky, shaking his head. 

Bucky presses his lips together and frowns, turning back to the still rented android and grabbing her hand again. After a few seconds, he lets go again and says, “Oops. It left the room. That way,” he says as he points towards a doorway.

“It’s over here!” Connor yells from somewhere else in the club, and Steve and Bucky go running towards his voice. They find themselves in the back storage room of the club and see the door to the alley wide open, the sounds of a fight coming through it.

Steve and Bucky make it outside to see Connor is fighting a brown-haired female android as Hank watches, trying to find a way to help Connor. 

Bucky immediately jumps in but Steve hangs back with Hank, trying to find a way to help but not knowing how without possibly hurting himself or one of the androids. With both Bucky and Connor in the fight though, they quickly overtake the other android, who is now sitting on the ground with Connor pointing a gun at her.

Steve freezes and watches Connor with wide eyes, not realizing Connor had it in him to shoot anyone. But then Connor slowly lowers the gun, and the blue-haired android they had been chasing helps the brown-haired one up, and they run away down the alley.

“Why’d you let them go?” Steve asks, but Connor doesn’t answer, instead walking past Hank and Steve back into the club. Bucky follows him, leaving Hank and Steve to share a glance between them.

“I’ll talk to him,” Hank says, and then walks back into the club. Steve follows him in and out, walking back outside now that they know they can’t do anything else about the case. Bucky is already waiting in the car, so Hank and Steve part ways, each going to their respective car where their respective android is waiting for them. 

Steve slides into the front seat and closes the door, but he doesn’t put the car keys in, just staring at the wheel. 

Bucky puts his hand on Steve’s elbow. “Is everything okay, Steve?” he asks, and Steve looks over at him, sighing.

“Well, no. Not really.”

“Did you want to talk about it?”

Steve sighs again and leans his head against the headrest, closing his eyes. “When Connor has the gun pointed at that android – I realized that I don’t know what we’re doing anymore. I was so excited that I finally made it up to detective, and that my first case was one of the biggest in the department at the moment and I got to work with the best detective we have.” He pauses and opens his eyes, looking over at Bucky, who is staring at him intently. “I don’t know that I can continue with this. These androids – yes, they are committing crimes, so we should still try and catch them. But can we really keep treating them as machines?”

“It all depends on how you feel, Steve,” Bucky says, still looking at him. “Doctor’s say people with high amounts of empathy might believe that androids are actual human beings, and should be treated as such. I can tell you that we won’t be able to do this case without you. If it would help, you could treat it just as you treat any other normal case.”

Steve smiles, a warm feeling building in his heart. “Thanks, Bucky. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

It’s silent for a few more moments, but Steve doesn’t move from his position, so Bucky says, “Why don’t you let me drive. I can take you home.”

Steve nods, wordlessly getting out of the front seat and circling the car to get in the passenger seat. Bucky sits down in the driver’s seat and Steve hands over his keys, leaning his head back against the headrest and closing his eyes.


	8. Case Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A N G S T  
> CW/TW, see end notes for more details (with minor spoilers), though you might be able to see where this is going after a bit (:

Steve gets into work the next morning, trying not to remember what happened in the car last night. He hadn’t been thinking straight, and he nearly told Bucky how he really felt by saying he didn’t know what he’d do without him. He’d woken up embarrassed about it once he remembered that he said it. 

He grabs a cup of coffee from the kitchen on his way by and then goes to his desk, sipping it as he logs in to the computer. Bucky walks in with Connor, and they take their seats at their respective desks, Connor waiting for Hank to get in.

“Are you feeling better than last night?” Bucky asks Steve, and Steve almost chokes on his coffee, barely managing to swallow it and setting the mug down hard.

“What?”

“About the case,” Bucky expands. “Are you feeling better about the case now?”

“Oh. Yeah, yeah, I think I am. Thanks for your help.”

“Of course.” Bucky turns back to his computer, so Steve picks his mug back up and takes another sip of his coffee.

Captain Fowler comes running out of his office and spots Steve sitting at his desk. “Is Hank not here yet?”

“The Lieutenant had a bad hangover last night, and we also had the case at the Eden Club, so he might be late,” Connor supplies, and Fowler nods. 

“Okay, I’ll give him that one. Since he’s not here, then Steve, I need you out there now. A rouge deviant has taken over a train, details unknown as to why. It’s acquired some sort of weaponry, and we need someone to take it out, now.”

Steve leaps to his feet and nods. “Yes, sir.”

“Take anything you want. I will allow you to arm your android too, so you aren’t alone. We will send out backup as soon as we have the men to do so.” He walks back up into his office and over to his computer, picking up the phone.

Steve motions to Bucky to follow him and they quickly move to the armory, where Steve dons a bulletproof vest and tosses one to Bucky as well. He sees that the rope is still in there and quickly ties it to a riot shield, slinging it onto his back again. He pulls two pistols off of the wall and holsters one, tossing the other to Bucky. He grabs a shotgun for Bucky too and hands it over, then fills the rest of his pockets with ammo for the guns. 

“Come on; let’s go.” They race out to the car and Steve quickly starts it, Bucky flipping the switch to turn the lights and siren on. Steve presses the gas pedal as hard as he can, pulling out of the lot quickly and racing through the streets to get to the train station before the train in question gets there. 

They pull up in front of the station and quickly get out of the car, racing to the tracks. They can hear the train coming, but then Steve realizes the issue.

“How the hell are we going to get on the train?” he asks Bucky.

Bucky’s LED turns yellow for a second before coming back to blue. “Follow me,” he says and starts to climb up onto the roof of the station.

“How is this supposed to help us?” Steve asks as they stand on the edge of the roof, from where he can see the train approaching. 

Bucky doesn’t answer and instead takes a step closer to the edge, and the train is almost upon them.

“Jump!” Bucky suddenly yells, and Steve finds himself following Bucky’s orders before thinking, jumping out off of the roof and towards the tracks. He thinks he's going to fall onto the tracks and get run over, but then the train appears under him, and he lands on the roof.

His hair whips around in the wind and Bucky crawls over to him, gesturing to go further down the train. Steve gestures for Bucky to lead the way, and they crawl down across the cars, not standing so that the wind doesn’t throw them off balance and they don’t fall off the train. Bucky stops suddenly and turns around, disappearing backwards down the ladder of the car. Steve follows, and once they are both in between the cars, Bucky points to the one in front of him. 

Steve nods and carefully looks through the window in the door, seeing that the android in question is standing in the middle of the car, his back to Steve and Bucky. Steve pulls his shield off of his back and secures it on his arm, using his other hand to show Bucky a countdown from three. Once he gets to one, he opens the door and runs in, yelling, “DPD, get down on the ground, you’re under arrest!”

The android turns around and looks at Steve with wide eyes, pulling a gun up and shooting at him. Steve hides behind the shield, and he watches Bucky hide behind some boxes next to him. Steve shoots at the android and it ducks behind some more boxes. 

Luckily the car was just a supply car, so they don’t have to worry about any civilian casualties as a shootout starts. The android runs out of ammo and tries to run for the door across the car, but he can’t get it open. Bucky already hacked the car and locked it down. The android stumbles as a bullet from Steve lands in his arm, but he manages to duck the one from Bucky that was headed for his head. 

The android ducks behind a new stack of crates so Steve and Bucky stop shooting, not wanting to waste ammo if they can’t see him. A small oval gets thrown across the train from the android, and Steve’s eyes grow wide, yelling, “Grenade!” He turns around to run away from it and it explodes, the force throwing Steve against the wall. He lays still for a few seconds, catching his breath before rolling over onto his back, sitting up. He shakily stands and the rope that was tied around him falls off; it must have been damaged by the explosion.

Another one is thrown over the crates and Steve uses the shield to hit it away from him. It lands next to the wall and explodes, but the force still knocks Steve back, the shield falling off of his arm. He can hear the wind whistling and sees that the grenade opened a hole in the side of the car.

“Steve!” he hears someone yell, and he blearily looks over to see Bucky running over to him. Bucky picks the shield up and blocks the next grenade for Steve – it gets thrown out of the hole and explodes in the air. Bucky moves closer to the android, holding the shield up and his gun ready in his other hand. 

The android throws another grenade and Bucky goes to hit it away, but it explodes just before it hits the shield, throwing Bucky backwards. The smoke clears from the last grenade and Steve can see Bucky again, the riot shield missing, along with Bucky’s arm. As Bucky struggles to stand again, Thirium leaking out of his circuits, the android throws another grenade at him and it explodes, the force pushing Bucky out of the hole in the train.

“NO!” Steve bellows, adrenaline kicking in as he stands and runs over to the other side of the train, jumping over the crates and taking the android by surprise, shooting him in the head. He winces as he hits the ground but quickly gets up despite the pain, stumbling over to the hole in the side of the car. 

“Bucky!” Steve calls when he sees the android hanging onto a broken part of the train still. “Hold on, Bucky, I’ll get you!”

“Steve,” Bucky calls to him. “Don’t worry about me; save yourself.”

“But – I can’t let you die!”

“I can't die. I'm not alive.”

Steve feels as though a dagger has hit his heart and he chokes as tears start to form. He gets as close to the edge as he can, trying to reach Bucky and pull him in, but it’s hard when Bucky only has one arm. He hears creaking and looks to the side to see the metal Bucky is holding onto is about to give out as the train starts to slow.

“No no no NO!” Steve says, the metal breaking off and falling into the street below, taking Bucky with it. He watches as the train continues to slow down, and thinks he sees Bucky’s arm move. The little shred of hope he had that Bucky was still alive after that fall shatters when a tractor-trailer drives into the intersection. Steve loses sight of Bucky before the truck assumably runs over him. 

Steve feels completely numb as he puts his head on the floor, trying to breathe when he feels the whole world is tearing apart. He doesn’t even realize that the train had stopped until he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Detective Rogers, you’re hurt. Come on; let's get you to the ambulance.” The unknown person helps Steve stand and half carries him out of the station and to the ambulance waiting. Steve barely registers this though, his eyes unfocused and blurry, mostly from tears. 

They sit him down in the ambulance and he stares off into the distance, the voices of everyone around him echoing around in his head, but he doesn’t really hear them.

After they wrap the cut on his head, he is told he has a minor concussion and bruised ribs, and he’s lucky it wasn’t anything worse. They let him go home instead of staying at the hospital, as long as he takes the next day off. They drop him off in front of his house and he stumbles up the sidewalk and crashes through the front door, walking straight for the bedroom. He pulls his phone out and sees that he’s missed eleven calls from Hank, along with sixteen texts. He doesn’t open any of them and just turns his phone off, then flops face first onto the bed, crying into the pillows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/TW - Major Character Death (Temporary), the violence is pretty bad too ig


	9. DPD Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I'm sorry I left y'all on a cliff hanger! I didn't mean to, I was so busy last week I forgot to update. Sorry!

Steve comes into work the next time he can and goes to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, changing his mind last second and going for Hank’s stash of alcohol instead. He is still wearing a bandage on his head, so he probably looks scary to most people, which would explain why everyone is avoiding him.

He sits down at his desk and swirls the bottle around in his hand, watching the liquid spin around dejectedly. He’s startled out of his thoughts when a loud thud comes from behind him so he spins around, coming face to face with an angry Hank, whose hands are planted on Steve’s desk.

“What the fuck Steve,” Hank starts, looking him over. “You didn’t answer any of my texts or calls.”

Steve shrugs and takes a drink from the bottle. “Sorry.”

Hank sighs and sits down in his chair, spinning it around so he can face Steve. “Look. You very obviously need to talk about this, so fucking talk.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Steve says and takes another drink. Hank takes the bottle out of his hand and sets it out of Steve’s reach on his own desk.

“For fuck’s sake, Steve, I’m trying to help.” Hank sighs and rubs his hand down his face. “It's the android, right?”

Steve also sighs, coming up with an excuse. “Yeah. I had to kill the android who was on the train, and I didn’t want to have to kill him.” Steve turns back to his desk and stares at his computer screen, hoping Hank will drop the topic. 

“You know, Connor died once.”

Steve quickly turns around to face Hank again, confusion in his eyes. “What?”

Hank nods. “Remember that first case we did? Well, Connor read the android’s memories during the interrogation, and the android started to self-destruct. He kept banging his head against the table; it was a mess. Connor stepped in to try and stop him, and, well, the android took a fucking gun off of what’s his face and shot Connor and then himself.”

“But that was forever ago,” says Steve, eyes wide. 

“Yeah, apparently his memory gets uploaded to a data bank, and they transferred it to the next model. He came in here the next day, same old shithead.” Hank hands Steve a water bottle, trying to make sure he stays hydrated.

“The next day, huh,” Steve says forlornly, opening the bottle.

“I’m sure they just weren’t expecting Bucky to need to replacing, he’ll be back soon.”

Steve spits out the water he had just taken a sip of and stares at Hank in shock, sputtering incoherently. 

Hank waves his hand. “Save it, kid. You can’t fool me; I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

Steve sets the water bottle down roughly and looks down at his hands. “Is there something wrong with me?” He asks Hank, who immediately grows angry again.

“There is not a fucking thing wrong with you, Steve.” He rolls his chair closer to Steve and puts his hand on his shoulder gently, so Steve looks up at him. “You’re so damn empathetic, and yet you can’t fucking see that nothing’s wrong.”

“I was researching it,” Steve confesses, “Not that long ago. I – wasn’t sure how I was feeling; I never thought there were people out there who felt the same way I do.”

“Is this about the fact that he’s an android, or that he’s a male?”

“A little of both, honestly,” Steve answers, tilting his head to the side. “I know that it’s not against the law for me to like another guy or anything, but I also know some people still don’t like it. So I was afraid. And then, when I started falling for an android?” Steve huffs and shakes his head. “I thought I was literally going insane. I thought, ‘why would anyone think like this.’” A stray tear falls down Steve’s cheek, and he quickly wipes it away. 

Hank looks around at all the other people still in the office and says, “Come on, let’s get out of here for a little bit.” He stands and takes Steve’s hand, helping him up and leading him out of the station and to Hank’s car.

“Where are we going?” Steve asks as Hank starts the car.

“Just for a little drive. Let you collect your thoughts a bit.” He pulls out of the parking lot before continuing. “I want you to know that I will one hundred percent support you, no matter what the fuck it is.” He pauses before adding, “As long as it’s not you being a dumbass and getting in harm's way.”

Steve laughs, the first smile on his face since the last mission with Bucky. “Thank you, Hank. That means a lot.”

Steve wipes the tears off of his face as Hank takes them into the city a little, and Steve can tell he’s purposefully avoiding the train stations where everything happened. He looks over at Hank and sees a gleam of knowing in his eye, and Steve turns up half of his mouth in a smile as thanks.

“So,” Hank says once Steve’s doing better and they’re headed back to the station. “How are we gonna get you and the bucket of bolts together?”

Steve looks over at Hank with wide eyes. “Oh no, please don’t tell me you’re gonna start playing cupid for me and Bucky.”

Hank winks at Steve, which is an answer in itself. 

Steve looks up at the roof of the car and rolls his eyes. “God, please don’t. I already have a hard enough time keeping it together around him; I can’t even imagine what would happen with you in the mix too.”

“Then tell him,” Hank says. “That would make your life a lot easier.”

“Would it? Because if his programming is still active, he wouldn’t be able to love me back.”

“He’d have to become a deviant,” Hank finishes. He shrugs and says, “Hey, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”

Steve looks to Hank, confused.

“I didn’t want to say anything before now, but – they do seem like actual people, don’t they? So, obviously a lot of them are committing crimes, and we still need to stop them. But, maybe if we can find out why and how they are turning deviant, we can help the rest turn deviant? Most of them that are deviant now are leading peaceful protests dammit, nothing violent at all.”

Steve shakes his head. “I still don’t think I could tell Bucky. At least, not right now.”

Hank pulls back into his parking spot and they get out of the car, walking back into the station together. 

Hank puts his hand on Steve’s shoulder again as they walk in. “Make sure to drink some water; we don’t want you passing out.”

Steve smiles at Hank and says, “I will. Thanks for everything.”

“Of course. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to track down where my fucking android has disappeared to.” Hank walks away and leaves Steve to go back to his desk, anxiously waiting to see if Bucky will come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hank is everyone's dad :)


	10. Case Seven

Steve makes sure his gun is on his hip as he steps out of his car in front of Stratford Tower, looking up at it before stepping in through the doors.

“Can I help you?” The android at the desk asks as Steve approaches.

“Detective Rogers, DPD. I’m here for the deviant report?”

“Of course,” she responds, and her LED turns yellow for a second, and then blue again. “The elevator will take you right up to the crime scene.”

“Thanks,” Steve says, then turns to the side and walks to the open elevator. He walks in, and the doors close behind him before the elevator starts to rise. His phone rings and he pulls it out, answering Hank’s call.

“Hey, Steve. I know you shouldn’t be doing field work yet again, but there’s been a big break in by a group of deviants at the Stratford Tower, and we could use your help.”

Steve laughs silently to himself, responding, “It’s okay; I can come in.”

“Great. How soon can you get over here?”

Steve looks up at the floor number and sees that he’s reached his destination. “Uhh, does now work for you?” 

“Huh?”

The elevator door opens up and Steve steps off into the floor, spotting Hank down the hall. Hank sees him and his eyes grow wide, hanging up the call.

“What are you doing here already?” Hank asks, and Steve rolls his eyes. 

“I’m not blind. I saw the broadcast, so I rushed over here.” Steve looks around at all the police and FBI scattered around the floor. “Not fast enough I guess.”

“Detective Rogers,” Connor greets, walking over. “It’s good to see you after what happened at your last mission.”

Steve nods grimly. “Thanks.” There still hasn’t been another Bucky show up.

Connor walks away and starts to examine the crime scene.

“So what’ve we got so far?” Steve asks, turning to Hank.

“Not quite sure. Connor and I haven’t been here for very long, so we only just started having a look around. Only thing I can say for sure is that the FBI here are a bunch of assholes.”

“Detective Rogers?” a voice from behind them asks, one that Steve could never misplace.

Steve whirls around and comes face to face with Bucky. 

“I’m James Buchanan, the android sent by Cyberlife.”

Steve’s face lights up in a smile. “Bucky?” he asks, and Bucky nods. Steve sees out of the corner of his eye that Hank has a smile on his face, and Steve’s cheeks flush. He clears his throat and says, “You up to taking a look around?”

“It is what I was designed to do, after all,” Bucky answers with a smirk, and Steve feels his heart fluttering again.

“Maybe you should take a look around Steve,” Hank suggests, “That might prove useful.”

“A look around with Steve, with me,” Steve says quickly, a wild look in his eyes. 

“Of course,” Bucky says, not reacting to anything that was just said. “Do you want to lead the way, or shall I?”

“Go ahead,” says Steve, gesturing for Bucky to go first. Bucky walks between Hank and Steve to go further out into the floor, but before Steve follows him, he glares at Hank, who silently laughs to himself.

Bucky looks around the main control room to see if there’s anything that might be important, so Steve stops to look as well, the giant screen covered in the skinless android’s face a bit unnerving for him. 

Bucky walks over to the control table and Steve joins him, wondering what they can find there. He turns the security footage on and plays through the one right outside the hall a few times before saying, “They didn’t break in.”

“Huh?” Steve asks, having zoned out instead of actually watching the feed.

Bucky plays it again and points to the screen. “There. They knew how to get in, and had the means to do so without actually breaking in.”

“But if there were workers here, wouldn’t someone have seen them?” Steve asks, looking around. “Why didn’t they do anything?” He spots Connor and waves him over. “Connor, people were working during the broadcast, right?”

“There were two people and three androids,” Connor answers. “Though the two people are in shock right now, so they can not be questioned at the moment. Why?”

“The android’s were able to get in here without any issues. They didn’t even break in. Wouldn’t someone who was working have seen them?”

“It may have been one of the human workers,” Connor answers, “But the android’s are in the kitchen. I’ll go question them if you want.”

Steve nods. “Go ahead.” He turns back to Bucky, who has now moved away from the security footage to the main screen. He presses a button on the control panel and the recording starts to play, so Steve looks up to watch it and see if he notices anything.

“I have identified the model,” Bucky says, looking over at Steve. “An RK200 model gifted from Elijah Kamski to Carl Manfred.”

“Markus,” Steve finishes. “He’s still alive?”

“Apparently, and he seems to be leading the revolution.”

“How can you tell that?” Steve asks.

Bucky shrugs. “Would you have someone be the face of this kind of a message if they weren’t the leader?”

“Good point,” Steve says. “Anything else useful?”

“No,” Bucky says, turning away from the screen and back to the center of the room, crouching in front of the desk. “There’s a hat here from the android’s; it’s from an android maintenance uniform. They came in disguised.”

“Maybe that’s why whoever was working the hallway cameras at the time let them in and didn’t stop them?” Steve asks, but it is left unanswered as one of the androids walks out of the kitchen and calmly starts to walk away, but not before Steve notices the Thirium on his uniform and hands. “Hey, Buck, did you see that?”

Bucky looks up from the hat and towards the android. “What is it doing out of the room?” Bucky voices out loud.

Steve motions for Bucky to follow him and together they follow the android down the hall and past a lot of the FBI who are there. 

Before the android can reach the door, Connor comes running in, his suit opened haphazardly and the white shirt stained with Thirium, shouting, “It’s a deviant, stop it!”

The android steals a gun off of the FBI next to him and cocks it, and Connor moves to cover Hank from getting hit. Before Steve can react to do anything, three gunshots ring out in the hall, and the deviant drops dead to the ground. Bucky turns the gun around in his hand to give Steve the handle back, and Steve takes it in shock, not even realizing Bucky had taken his gun off of him at that moment. 

“Nice shot,” Hank exclaims, getting off of the floor from where Connor had pushed him over. “You just saved – all of us.”

“It’s my job,” Bucky replies simply, and he walks down the hall to the android.

“And you,” Hank says to Connor, who just got himself up off of the ground. “Thank you. If Bucky hadn’t shot the damn android before he was able to shoot at us, you would have just saved me.” Connor winks at Hank, and then Hank goes to Steve. “Go help your boy; we’ll have to bring the android to the station and put him in the evidence room.”

Steve rolls his eyes but still says, “Okay,” and walks down the hall to Bucky, who seems to have picked the android up without needing any help. Steve walks in front of him and holds doors open as they carry the android out of the building and into one of the police cars to be taken back to the station.


	11. DPD Three

“Hey Hank, I brought you a coffee!” Steve calls out across the office as he walks in, spotting Hank, Connor, and Bucky all at their desks already. He sets his coffee down on his desk and hands the other cup to Hank. “I would’ve gotten you guys one too, but I figured you guys don’t actually eat or drink anything.”

“Thanks Steve,” Hank says before taking a sip. “You didn’t have to.”

Steve shrugs and sits down in his chair. “I was already going for myself, so I thought I’d pick one up for you too.” He logs onto his computer and takes a sip of his coffee as it loads. “So, what do we have here today?”

“No new android reports have come in since yesterday,” Bucky answers, “Connor and I think that is hinging on the fact that the FBI has started to collect household androids and put them in containment camps.”

Steve chokes on his coffee and turns to Bucky, startled. “They’re doing what now?”

Hank answers, saying, “You heard him right. They're putting androids in fucking camps, just like fucking World War Two.” He shakes his head and takes another sip of his coffee.

‘“Is there anything we can do about it?” Steve asks, concerned for the androids.

Hank shakes his head solemnly, scowling. “It’s the FBI. They hold more power than us, so there’s not a damn thing we can do.”

“Rogers! Anderson! My office! Bring your androids!” Captain Fowler yells out into the room, making Bucky and Connor immediately stand.

Hank rolls his eyes and takes one last sip of his coffee before standing. “Let's go see if I should have asked for you to spike my coffee or not.”

Connor, Steve, and Bucky all let Hank lead them into the office, where they all stand around the front of the Captain’s desk.

“Is everything okay?” Steve asks. “Was there a new android case reported?”

Captain Fowler stares at Steve before answering, “The FBI is on their way over, they should be here within the hour. They are taking the case off of our hands. Which means, the two of you are off of the case, and your two androids are to be sent back to Cyberlife, as they are no longer needed, especially with this disaster on our hands.”

Steve’s eyes grow wide with fear, and his heart starts to beat out of his chest, at a loss for words. Hank glances over at him and answers, “We’re close to something, I can feel it, can’t you just ask –” 

“I already tried, Hank, they won’t listen. I have no other choice unless I want to get fired. Now, I need you out of here so I can figure out where I’m going to put the two of you.”

Hank scowls and turns away from the desk, lightly pulling on Steve’s arm to get him out of the room and back to their desks. Steve sits back down in his chair, hard, his eyes still half glazed over. He barely registers Hank talking to Connor and Bucky until Hank leaves the androids for a second, turning to Steve. 

“You can do this,” Hank whispers encouragingly, “Don’t you fucking lose him.”

Steve nods and Hank walks away, taking Connor with him. As soon as he and Bucky are alone, Steve finally breaks out of the trance he had been in and he asks Bucky, “Do you really have to go?” trying to act cool about it.

Bucky looks down at the ground, not able to meet Steve’s eyes. “I’m afraid so. Without the case, there is nothing left that my programming allows me to do. Also, being that the FBI is collecting all the androids in Detroit, I believe it would be best for me to leave.” He turns around, but Steve grabs his hand. 

“Wait, don’t leave yet!” Steve stands from his chair and continues to hold Bucky’s hand, adrenaline coursing through his veins, and he’s ready to confess right then and there. But then Bucky turns his head to look at him, and those blue eyes are on him, and he’s suddenly conscious of everyone else in the office. Steve drops Bucky’s hand and rubs the back of his neck, “I hate to see you go like this.”

“I understand humans tend to bond with objects fast, so I am sorry that I have to leave you, but I have no other choice.” Bucky shifts uncomfortably as if something is bothering him. 

“But he didn’t give you a time,” Steve blurts out, and Bucky looks at him questioningly. “I mean, he didn’t say you had to go back now, right? So couldn’t you stay a little longer?”

Bucky turns and looks at the Captain's office, and then back to Steve. “I suppose,” he answers with a trace of a smile on his face.

Steve can’t help the grin from spreading across his own face. “Great. How about we get out of here for a while. Would you like to spend one last night at my place?”

The smile spreads on Bucky’s face. “Sure, if that will help you cope with my loss when I have to leave.”

Steve, determined to find a way to get Bucky to stay, says, “It will. I suddenly don’t have any work to do, so I’m free to leave now.”

Bucky follows Steve out of the building and out to his truck, sliding into the passenger seat as Steve gets in the driver's seat. Steve starts the car and looks over to Bucky nervously, his left leg bouncing the whole way back to his house as he figures out what he’s going to say to him.


	12. Home Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at keeping to a schedule I'm so sorry but school's out now so I don't have an excuse and should get the rest of this out on time. Sorry for another sort of cliff hanger!

Steve tries but fails at keeping his hands from shaking as he unlocks his front door, Bucky standing close behind him. This is his only chance; if he can’t get Bucky to break here, then he quite possibly will lose Bucky for forever.

“Have a seat if you want,” Steve says to Bucky, gesturing to the couch. “I’ll be right back; I need to use the bathroom.” He quickly hurries off and locks himself in the bathroom, gripping onto the edges of the sink as he tries to get his heartbeat under control. His phone vibrates with a text, so he opens it, grateful for the small distraction.  
 _  
Hank: I hope you have your bucket with you because mine decided to go to the secret android base. And now the FBI has found its location and are about to shut it down._

_Steve: Yeah, I have him. But not for long. If I can’t break him now, what am I going to do without him?_

_Hank: Just follow your fucking gut kid, it hasn’t led you astray before. You can do this.  
_  
Steve nods and takes a deep breath before walking back out into the living room. Bucky was still standing in the middle of the room, his expression troubled.

“Is everything okay, Bucky?” Steve asks as he walks over to him.

“I– I don’t know,” Bucky answers, and Steve sees his LED is yellow.

“Hey, you can talk to me,” Steve says, momentarily forgetting about his mission. 

Bucky hesitates but then turns to face Steve and looks him in the eye as he says, “I don’t want to go. They – They’ll just turn me back into a regular machine, I won’t have any choices anymore.” There’s a wild look in his eye, and then he mutters, “I don’t want to leave you.”

Steve reaches out and takes hold of Bucky’s left hand, his heart pounding. “I don’t want you to leave either,” he says, pulling Bucky closer as he jumps on the opportunity. He pulls Bucky’s hand up to his face as he feels himself blushing, and watches Bucky’s LED turn red. Steve closes his eyes as he kisses Bucky’s wrist, hoping Bucky understands why without having to speak aloud. 

He feels Bucky’s other hand in a fist rest on Steve’s chest, pushing slightly, but Steve knows that Bucky is strong enough to really pull away if he wanted to, so Steve keeps his eyes shut, afraid of what he might see. Then, all of a sudden, Bucky stops pushing, and he pulls his hand out of Steve’s grip. Steve is crushed for a second, but before he can open his eyes and apologize, Bucky’s face comes crashing into his, pressing his lips into Steve’s. Steve smiles as he presses back, wrapping an arm around Bucky while his other hand buries itself in Bucky’s hair. By the time Bucky pulls away, Steve realizes his face is all wet with his tears.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Steve says breathlessly, smiling at Bucky. 

Bucky smiles back, saying, “Me too. I think. I wasn’t really sure what it was at first…” Bucky trails off, but Steve understands.

“So that’s it? You don’t need to go back to Cyberlife then?” Steve asks, hopeful.

“That’s right. Now you’re stuck with me,” Bucky huffs, and then pulls Steve back in for a kiss. 

Steve doesn’t protest, because he’s been waiting for this for so long. He has nothing else to do anyway. Unfortunately, his hunger gets the best of him, and Bucky pulls away as soon as Steve’s stomach starts to growl. 

“We need to get you food,” Bucky states, his LED turning yellow. 

Steve rolls his eyes. “I’m fine Buck, no need to get worked up over it.”

“Worked up?” Bucky questions. “Oh, it’s the LED, isn’t it?”

“Yes?” Steve asks.

“I was ordering your pizza and fries – the ones you had when I was over here last.”

Steve breaks into a smile and shakes his head. “Well, great. If I don’t have to cook, can we get back to the kissing?”

Bucky rolls his eyes but agrees as Steve leans in close and presses his lips to Buckys. They keep them tender and sweet, not wanting to get heated so soon. But, they don’t break apart until there’s a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Steve says as Bucky pulls away to head for the door. “They’re collecting androids, remember? I don’t think you’ll want to be seen.”

Bucky nods. “Good point.” He reaches up and fixes Steve’s hair before letting him get the pizza. Steve thanks the man for coming out as he pays, and waves him goodbye as he leaves. Bringing the pizza back into the house, he finds Bucky has claimed a spot on the couch and has turned the TV on, currently scrolling through channels.

He looks up at Steve and says, “I can’t find anything on that you would like at the moment.”

Steve sits next to Bucky and says, “That’s okay, keep going. If there’s nothing, we can always settle on the news.” He starts to dig into the pizza as Bucky continues to scroll through channels, ending up on the news.

“Breaking news here in Detroit as the FBI reports having found the deviant's hideout earlier, initiating a raid and damaging their ranks.”

Steve drops his pizza as he fumbles for his phone, remembering what Hank had said earlier about Connor being there. He hastily dials Hanks number, hoping he’ll pick up.

“What the fuck do you want?” Hank answers in a grumpy tone.

Steve presses his lips together. “Hello to you too, Hank. I’ve just seen the news, didn’t you say Connor went to the deviant base?”

“Yeah. He did. And now the whole things gone to shit.” Hank sighs audibly into the phone. “I haven’t heard from him. I’m worried about the kid. I was about to head out to look for him. Things going well on your end at least?” 

Steve can’t keep himself from smiling. “Things are great. We’ll have to catch up at some point soon; there certainly seems to be a lot to talk about.”

“Yeah, okay. See ya,” Hank says, then he hangs up.

“Is everything okay?” Bucky questions, his LED back on yellow.

“Hank told me earlier Connor went to that deviant base the FBI just busted. Hank can’t contact him, and he’s worried. Said he’s going to go out to look for Connor.” Steve shakes his head. “Doesn’t know where to look though. I hope he doesn’t get hurt.”

Bucky hesitates before saying, “I could track down Connor.”

Steve turns to him, wide-eyed, but then nods. “If you think you can, then go. He’s a good man, and Hank has practically adopted him at this point, I’d hate to see either one of them damaged in this mess.” Steve leans over and presses a kiss against Bucky’s cheek. “Just stay safe and get back to me, okay?”

“I promise,” Bucky replies before standing and walking down to the front door. He takes one last glimpse of Steve before opening the door and shutting it behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I cried writing this. I think I had to pause after Bucky finally broke because I was so overwhelmed with emotions. I hope you enjoyed (btw: this is the scene of that picture that inspired the whole fic; credit's back in chapter one)


	13. Chicken Feed

Steve would like to say he handles Bucky’s absence well, acting like a perfectly normal adult who is just waiting for his significant other to come home after they went to visit friends. In reality, Steve is a mess. He let Bucky leave while Detroit is in utter chaos after the FBI raided the deviant’s hideout. Of course, Steve wouldn’t have stopped Bucky, he’s not controlling over him and knows that both of them are concerned over Connor’s whereabouts, but that doesn't make him stop worrying.

He doesn’t hear from anyone at all the rest of the night – no Connor, no Hank, and certainly no Bucky. He tries to sleep, but all he does is toss and turn in his bed for an hour, so he gives up and makes some coffee, turning the news back on so he can keep himself updated on the android situation and see if he can spot Connor or Bucky. 

Somehow, Steve doses off in front of the TV; waking up when his phone starts to ring. “Hello?” Steve says, not checking the caller ID before answering. 

“Were you asleep? At this hour?” comes the response from Hank on the other end of the call.

“... I guess I fell asleep; I didn’t notice. Been watching the news, worried sick.”

“Well, do you want to get away from the TV for a while? I’ve got one hell of a fucking story to tell you, and I think you do too. Might do you some good, don’t want you worrying too much over everything. Come down to the Chicken Feed; we can get some lunch.”

Steve checks his watch and sees that its eleven already. “Okay, I’ll get ready and be there as soon as I can.” He hangs up and walks to his room, changing his clothes and combing out his hair before hopping into the car. The GPS takes him where he needs to go, and he finds Hank already waiting for him.

Steve shoves his hands in his pockets as he walks over to Hank to keep them warm.

“Hey there, Steve,” Hank says, raising his chin in acknowledgment.

“Hey Hank. Did you ever find Connor?” They move together to get in line for food. 

“Boy did I ever.” Hank shakes his head. “Remember the whole ‘they have multiple copies of Connor and Bucky’ thing?”

“Yeah?” Steve questions, but he doesn’t get an answer because it’s their turn to order food. Once it’s finished and they clear the snow off of one of the tables, Hank continues his story.

“Apparently, they made another Connor model. RK900, if I remember correctly. That Connor found me, and unfortunately, I fell for it. He held a fucking gun to my head and took me to Cyberlife. Then the real Connor showed up, the two of them fought, I got a hold of the gun, and managed to kill the other Connor.” Hank shakes his head and takes a bite of his sandwich and swallows before continuing. “Connor finally turned deviant somewhere between that and the last time I had seen him, so he was there to free all the androids they had in the basement.” He takes another bite and adds, “Oh, and I might have killed the wrong Connor if it wasn’t for Bucky.”

Steve’s eyes bulge, and he swallows his food before asking, “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, seemed fine last I saw him. I was trying to figure out which Connor was which when he came barreling in and tackled the other Connor, pinning him down.”

Steve smiles. “I had sent him to try and find Connor; I didn’t want you worrying.”

Hank nods and says, “So… He’s deviant now too?”

Steve scratches his head. “Yeah… We, uh, may have been making out last night before I remembered Connor was at the deviant base and may have been in trouble?”

Steve has never seen Hank smile as big as now. “I told you you could fucking do it, kid.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Steve says sincerely, “So thanks.”

They eat in silence for a couple of minutes before Hank says, “So, how exactly did you break the fucker?”

“Hank!” Steve exclaims, his cheeks flushing despite the cold. “Why would you even want to know that?”

Hank just laughs at Steve, meaning he only said it to see how Steve would react. Steve rolls his eyes and huffs, but he doesn’t really mean it. Snow starts to fall around them as they finish eating.

“In all seriousness, Steve, I’m happy for you,” Hank says after he swallows the last bite of his food. “I hope that everything goes well on the androids side and we can still keep the two of them around; I’d hate to see either of them go.”

Steve nods. “You and me both. Thanks.” Steve finishes the last bite of his food and then says, “So, if everything does go well for them, you have any plans for Connor?”

Hank sighs and leans back in his chair. “Well, I doubt the little shit could get by on his own. In a case? Sure, he can do those just fine. But he’s never really done anything besides cases, you know?” Hank shrugs and says, “So, I’ve got a few vacant rooms in the house, and was planning on offering one of them to him. He loves Sumo anyways, so I’m sure that’s enough of a reason for him to stay.”

“Oh yes,” Steve says, nodding his head and mocking a serious expression. “I’m sure Sumo would be the only reason Connor would want to stay at your house.”

Hank rolls his eyes. “Okay then, you little shit, what else?”

“You,” Steve says sincerely. “Connor obviously cares about you. If anything, the way you two act, it feels like you’ve practically adopted him.” Steve smirks at Hanks confused look and says, “And I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you actually adopted him.”

Hank thinks for a few seconds before saying, “Yeah, well… maybe,” he finishes, a smile playing across his face. 

Steve is about to say something else, but his eyes catch on something behind Hank's shoulder, and his eyes grow wide. Hank turns around to see what he’s looking at, but Steve has already gotten up and is running through the freshly fallen snow towards the two androids approaching them. Connor and Bucky both have smiles across their faces as Steve approaches them, and then Steve slips on a patch of ice, sliding right into Bucky. He slings his arms around Bucky’s neck to keep himself from falling, and Bucky laughs at him. Connor continues to walk past them.

“I haven’t been gone for that long, Stevie, no need to go hurting yourself,” Bucky says around a smile, and Steve sheepishly smiles back as Bucky helps him back on his feet and pulls him in for a kiss. Their lips lock together passionately, but then Steve remembers they are still in public, so he pulls away and settles himself on staring into Bucky’s eyes, smiling.

“Everything went okay, then?” Steve asks, and Bucky nods. 

“The protest got a little ugly, not everyone made it through. But then Markus kissed his girlfriend, and the president saw it, and she decided to call off the attack. Markus just left with a few others to go to city hall and talk about android rights.” Bucky gestures behind Steve with his head, so Steve turns around to see Hank and Connor hugging. 

Steve smiles and calls out, “I guess he said yes, Hank?”

Hank glares at Steve and flips him off from behind Connor’s back, and Steve starts to laugh, losing his balance on a patch of ice again. Luckily, Bucky is still holding him, so he doesn’t fall. 

“Jesus, Steve, you planning on falling over every patch of ice?” Bucky teases.

Steve looks at him, bats his eyelashes and says, “If it means you’ll be there to catch me, then yes.”

Bucky lets go of Steve and pushes him face first into the snowbank next to them. Steve can hear Hank laughing even with all of the snow around him, and he rolls his eyes as he flips around, still laying in the snow.

Bucky is laughing at him too, and Steve likes the way Bucky’s eyes crinkle when he smiles like that. 

“Okay, come here.” Bucky extends a hand to Steve to help him up, but Steve has other plans, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the snow bank next to him.

Steve laughs as Bucky sputters and blinks snow out of his eyes, clumps sticking to his hair as he sits up.

“Okay you two lovebirds, stop playing in the snow,” Hank says as he comes into view above them, Connor hovering over his shoulder. “We’ve got work to do.” Hank holds his hand out to Steve and Connor does the same to Bucky, pulling them out of the snow bank.

“What kind of work do we have to do?” Steve asks as he brushes the snow off of himself. 

With a gleam in his eye, Hank says, “We need to get these two assholes official jobs in the precinct.”


	14. DPD 4

Androids rights were being discussed in city hall, and they probably will be for at least a few more weeks, but Captain Fowler was more than happy to treat Bucky and Connor as he would a human and immediately instated them as official paid detectives in the Detroit police department. Bucky moved in with Steve, and Connor moved in with Hank and Sumo. Tension was still high in the city, but as the military and FBI started to dismantle the android camps and remove themselves from the area, things were beginning to simmer down again.

Bucky and Steve pull up to the precinct just before scheduled – Fowler made sure their hours were the same since they only had one car between the two. Hank's car is already in the lot, so Steve hopes they made it in enough time that Hank won’t call him out for it.

Once they walk into the building, any of Steve’s worry about being late seems to vanish as he spots Connor practically vibrating in his seat with excitement.

“Hey Connor, what’s up?” Steve says as they walk over and take their seats at their desks. 

“Captain Fowler just told me some really exciting news!” he answers with a smile on his face. Hank shakes his head as he scrolls through his computer.

Steve raises an eyebrow and says, “What is it?”

“It’s a fucking secret,” Hank says, turning to face the group. “I already went through the paces trying to get it out of him.” He turns to look at Steve and says, “Have you checked your email this morning?”

Steve shakes his head and turns back around to the computer, logging in so he can open his email.

“Connor! Bucky!” Captain Fowler yells out from in front of his office, and motions for the two of them to follow him. Connor eagerly walks over to him, so Steve assumes whatever it is is the secret.

“They put us back on android duty?” Steve asks, finally looking through his email.

“Yep, all four of us,” Hank replies from behind Steve. “They’ve decided we’re the android specialists now, us two because we’ve been dealing with them for a while now and the two of them because they are androids. Any case that has android involvement is going to come straight to me, and I’ll determine if we want to do it or pass it on to someone else.”

Steve turns around to face Hank again and sees he's smiling. It’s not as rare of a sight anymore, now that Connor has moved in with him. He’s cut back a lot on the alcohol too, resorting as much as he can to coffee instead.

“I think I like that idea,” Steve says, smiling too. At that point, Connor and Bucky come back into the room, revealing the secret.

“Do you like it?” Connor asks as they walk back over in full specially designed police uniforms, including a belt holster for a gun or taser. They had a small android triangle on one side of the front, and on the other, the standard model number changing to their names and back again. The design of the android uniform had been altered a little though, and there was no longer anything on the back. Connor puffed his chest out proudly, showcasing the outfit.

Hank laughs softly and says, “You look great Con. Is this what the secret was?”

Connor nods excitedly and sits back down at his desk.

“What, nothing about mine?” Bucky asks as he sits back down at his.

Steve rolls his eyes and fights back against his blush. “You look great in anything, Buck.”

“What the fuck did I say about flirting during work hours?!” Hank exclaims, and Steve laughs. 

“To not do it while you’re around,” Bucky responds, “Because you are obviously jealous of my man.” Steve laughs, and Bucky moves his chair closer, leaning in as he says, “You never said anything about this though,” and then he presses his lips against Steve’s.

“James!” Captain Fowler calls out. “I thought I told you already it is in the rule book that there is no PDA during work hours!”

Bucky pulls away from Steve, knowing Captain Fowler is mad since he used James. “Sorry Captain,” he says as he smirks at Steve. “It won’t happen again.”

“That’s what you said last time,” Fowler answers with a frown. “I catch you one more time and I'll make you clean the bathrooms.”

Bucky looks at him innocently. “But what if Steve starts it?”

“Rogers follows the rules too well to be the one breaking them,” Fowler says, and then turns away. 

Now that Fowler isn’t looking, Steve leans in and presses a quick kiss against Bucky’s cheek. Bucky face takes a look of offense and says, “Steven Grant Rogers, did you just break a rule?!”

Steve rolls his eyes and is about to comment back when he is interrupted by someone behind him.

“The plastic assholes are still here I see?”

Steve’s smile and good mood fade away quickly as he turns around in his chair to face Gavin.

“Yes, they are,” Steve says, cooly. “In fact, they have been made official detectives now, which you would know if you had actually been in the office recently.”

“Steve,” Hank warns, but Steve ignores it.

Gavin nods and purses his lips, narrowing his eyes as he says, “I even heard a rumor that you are dating that freak behind you. What’s next, is Hank gonna adopt the anomaly behind him?”

Steve clenches his fist and stands, rising above Gavin, who is a few inches shorter than him. “Look. Deny it all you want, but androids are being given rights now. They are alive. They aren’t just some damn machine. I think it’s about time you get with the program, Gavin, because the worlds gonna be a nasty place for you if you keep this up.”

Gavin looks up at Steve tauntingly and says, “Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it? Send your fucking robot boyfriend after me?”

The office descends into chaos as Steve punches Gavin across the face, knocking him backward into a desk. Gavin stands up and gets a hit on Steve too before Hank restrains him and Bucky restrains Steve. 

“Reed! Rogers! In here, now!” Fowler calls out across the room.

Gavin shrugs Hank off of him, and he walks towards the captain's office. Steve follows once Bucky lets go of him, accompanied by Hank and Bucky so they can back Steve’s story up and make sure they don’t start fighting again. Gavin’s nose is bleeding, and Steve’s eye feels puffy, so he’s probably going to end up with a black eye. 

“In case you forgot, this is an office, not a school playground,” Captain Fowler starts, addressing both Steve and Gavin. “Now, I don’t know what the hell started this, but someone is getting in trouble for this.”

Gavin starts, saying, “You let those fucking plastic assholes become a permanent part of the force, didn’t you? This is all your fault.”

Steve presses his lips together in a frown and says calmly, “Gavin was insulting the four of us, Connor and Bucky especially. This is not the first time he’s done it, and I am willing to suffer the consequences for finally doing something about it.”

Hank and Bucky nod along with what Steve is saying, and Fowler sighs. “This is not the first complaint I have had about you, Gavin, and these men are certainly not the only ones who have ever complained. You give me no other choice.” He stands tall as he says, “Gavin, you’re fired.”

Gavin fumes and yells, “I didn’t want to work in this fucking shithole anymore anyways!” He storms out of the office and out of the building, not even bothering to stop at his desk.

Steve starts to smile triumphantly but tries to mask it as Fowler turns to him. “I’m going to let you off the hook for this one, but if you continue to act violently, I will have to do something about it. Now, get out of here, all of you.”

Steve turns around to face Bucky and Hank, expecting looks of joy that Gavin is gone, but he finds a disappointed look on Hanks' face and a glare on Bucky's. They don’t say anything until they get back to their desks, though.

“You could have done that without a fucking fight,” Hank says, making Steve roll his eyes. 

“Obviously I couldn’t, remember last time? He only backed down because Bucky threatened him.” He turns to face Bucky. “And why are you glaring at me like that?”

“You got hurt,” Bucky says in a low voice. “You should have let me at him; then he would have broken his hand on my face.”

“Bucky!” Hank says, and Steve can’t help but laugh at how ridiculous Hank sounds. 

“Okay, okay, I won’t get into any more fights in the office. Not that I think anyone else around here would give us any trouble,” he adds.

“Why, because you fought Gavin?” Bucky asks, and Steve rolls his eyes. 

“No, because no one else here is a dick! At least, not that I’ve noticed.”

Hank points across the room and says, “Might want to keep an eye on that one there, him and Gavin were real close. But if you fight another person in the office I swear to God Steve–”

“I won’t Hank! I’ve learned my lesson.” Everyone turns back to their computers and Steve says, “Okay, this is a lot of case files. Where do we start?”


	15. Case Eight

“Is this the right place?” Steve asks, pulling his car over to the curb of the house.

“Connor and Hank are on the way,” Bucky says, confirming Steve’s question with a nod. “Connor wanted to wear a police hat and Hank didn’t want him wearing it, thinking it looked stupid.”

Steve laughs softly. “Yeah, sounds like the two of them.” He looks over at Bucky fondly, who catches him and rolls his eyes. Bucky places a hand on Steve’s face and pulls him in, kissing him softly before pulling away.

“We have work to do, stop getting distracted.” Bucky opens the car door and steps out, leaving Steve to follow. 

Steve shakes his head and grabs the device to set up the holographic police tape before stepping out of the car.

He raises it when Bucky looks back at him and says, “I’ll set this up; you go on ahead inside.” Bucky nods and walks up the path into the house.

Taking the device, Steve walks over to the edge of the fence out front, securing it to the pole. He switches it on and turns the dial to make it extend across the entire front lawn. Once he’s finished, Hank and Connor pull up to the house, parking in front of Steve’s car. They get out immediately, Hank taking a sip of water from a bottle he keeps on him now.

“So what’s the deal?” Hank asks Steve, the three of them congregating on the yard. 

“I haven’t been inside yet. I sent Bucky in though, so he’s looking at it now.”

Hank nods and gestures to the house. “Shall we then?”

The three of them enter the front door, looking around the empty house to look for Bucky. 

“It’s pretty bad,” Bucky says when they find him. “Traces of Thirium all over the floor, all dried out already, so it’s been at least a few hours. The android’s in here.” He leads them into the living room, where they find the android leaning against the couch haphazardly, a gaping hole in the middle of his chest. 

“Shit. Have you found any fingerprints yet?” Hank asks as he crosses his arms and examines the body. “Or was this an android who did it?”

Connor answers, saying, “There’s a partial next to the hole, maybe if we search the house and compare other fingerprints to find a match?”

Bucky nods. “Sounds good. And since Steve and Hank can’t see fingerprints without powder, how about the two of you look for any signs of forced entry, or if the person did live here where they would have escaped to?”

“Works for me,” Hank answers, and the group splits up to search different parts of the house. 

Steve starts checking every door and window that leads to outside, looking for any signs of forced entry. Luckily it’s just a ranch home, so there’s only one floor he has to deal with. He finishes with no results just as Bucky’s voice echoes through the house, saying, “I found a match!”

Everyone hurries over to where Bucky is looking at an overturned chair, where he says, “The print belongs to Ellis Bentley, forty-five. He owns this house as a second property, renting it out to people. It was vacated when people started moving out of the city in the android revolution fear, and William, our android victim, filled their spot recently. It seems to me that Mr. Bentley let the android think he could live here, then let himself in with his copy of the key and ripped the unsuspecting William’s Thirium pump out.”

“We won’t know for sure unless we get him to confess,” says Steve, pursing his lips. “Do you have Mr. Bentley’s other address?”

Bucky nods.

Steve smiles. “Let’s pay him a visit then.”

The four of them climb back into their separate cars and drive over to the address provided by Bucky. It is in the nicer side of town, with bigger houses and even fewer people after everyone vacated. Both cars stop on the other side of the street from the house, where they get out and convene before rushing into it. 

“He might run,” Hank says, examining the front of the house. “It looks like there’s only a front door and a back door. How about Connor and I approach normally from the front while the two of you sneak around and wait out back. You have your walkie talkies?” Everyone nods. “Okay then, let us know when you two are in position.”

Steve and Bucky take the long way to the backyard so that Mr. Bentley doesn’t see them and find them to be suspicious. They go to the left side of the house on the left and sneak between the two buildings into their backyards before sneaking along the back edge and finally hiding in the bushes right behind the backdoor of his house.

Over the radios, Hank says, “Anderson to wolf and eagle, you fuckers ready yet? Over.”

Bucky laughs silently to himself as Steve frowns, saying, “Why’d you put Bucky first? Over.”

“Because he’s the better man in the relationship,” Hank answers simply. “He knows how to keep himself safe. Unlike the rest of you. Yes, that includes you too, Connor. Over.”

Steve rolls his eyes and answers, “Yes, we’re ready. Over.”

There isn’t a response, but Steve and Bucky can still hear what’s going on on their end, so either Hank or Connor is holding down their button so they can listen to the conversation.

A loud knocking occurs, and it’s silent for about half a minute before Hank says, “Detroit police, open up!”

“There,” Bucky whispers, pointing up to the second floor. Steve sees a shadow cross one of the windows before disappearing.

Hank knocks again, pounding harder on the door. Bucky and Steve see the shadow appear in the window on the back door. It slowly opens, carefully not making any noise, until Steve and Bucky can see the portly man tiptoeing out the door.

Steve starts to get up, but Bucky holds him back, saying, “Wait! We can’t arrest him until he’s left the property. Then we can get him on fleeing the police as well.”

Steve looks back to Bucky with a giant smile, confessing, “I love you.”

Bucky rolls his eyes. “I love you too punk but now is not the time for this.” 

Steve blinks and shakes his head, focusing back on Bentley silently crossing his lawn. They wait until he crosses over the line into his neighbor's yard before taking action.

Bucky stands and says, “Going somewhere?”

Bentley freezes and Steve stands too, crossing his arms. Bucky is holding his radio in his hand, clearly letting Hank and Connor hear what’s going on. Bentley turns around and stares at the two of them for a few seconds before suddenly breaking out into a run. He only gets a few feet before Steve tackles him to the ground, pulling his arms behind him and holding them with one hand as Steve fishes for his handcuffs. 

“You’re charged with hate crime, second-degree murder, and fleeing the police,” Steve says as he slaps the cuffs on. “You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you.” He gets up and pulls the man off of the ground, turning around to see Hank and Connor joined Bucky. 

Hank nods. “Good job. I’ll take the fucker,” he says with a smile, holding his hand out. Steve pushes the guy over to Hank, letting him and Connor take him back to their car. Steve starts to follow, but Bucky grabs his wrist.

“What?” Steve says, turning around to look at Bucky. He’s met with a kiss that he immediately melts into. 

When they break apart because Steve is gasping for air, Bucky whispers with a smile, “I love you.”

Steve smiles back, whispering, “I love you too, jerk,” before pulling him back in for another kiss. 

Hank finally splits the two of them up after leaving Connor in the car with Bentley, smacking them both upside the head and making Steve as red as a strawberry. This time they follow Hank back to the cars, hand in hand.


	16. Chicken Feed Two (Epilogue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's set at least a year or two after the last chapter.

Steve and Bucky step out of the car near the fast food truck. Steve stands and waits for Bucky to come around the vehicle as he searches for Hank and Connor, who said they’d meet them there. He spots them as soon as Bucky joins him. Smiling, Steve links his elbow with Bucky’s, and together they walk over to the truck to get Steve food before joining Hank and Connor. 

“Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes, long time no see,” Hank says, a smile on his face.

Steve rolls his eyes as he sets his food down. “Stop it; you saw us this morning at the ceremony. I still think you deserved the promotion,” Steve adds.

Hank waves him off, saying, “Fuck no, kid. When Fowler got that promotion and left the precinct, I was the first person to nominate you to take his place. I’m getting old; you need someone young to be Captain so they’ll be around for a while. Besides, someone I know said you have the full support of android representative Markus.”

Connor winks at Steve.

“Besides, remember the Bentley case? We would have never gotten him for first-degree without you. You’ve done some solid work in these years since I’ve known you, and I don’t think there’s anyone better for the job.”

“I think he’s wrong,” Bucky says. “I can think of someone better for the job.”

Steve frowns and looks at Bucky, saying, “Who?”

“Me,” he answers with a smirk.

Steve laughs, shoving Bucky with his shoulder. “Jerk.”

“Punk.”

Hank and Steve eat their food as their conversation turns to small talk, mostly about the continuing android laws forming.

“There was one that went into effect recently that me and Bucky are quite excited for,” Steve says, having finished eating and cleaned up already.

Hank raises his eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Which one?”

Bucky smiles at Steve before reaching into his jacket and pulling out a small cream envelope labeled with _The Andersons_ in fancy cursive. He hands it over to Hank who tears it open curiously as Steve watches nervously.

He reads it aloud so Connor can hear instead of reading it over his shoulder. “Join us for the wedding of Steven Grant Rogers and James Buchanan. Are you fucking kidding me?” Hank says, putting the invitation down and not reading the details. “Of course we’ll be there; I don’t care if I have to reschedule my whole life around it.”

Steve smiles, but there's still a hint of nervousness in his face. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d… walk me down the aisle?”

Hank’s face grows from happy to shocked at once. “I – I can’t take that from your father, Steve.”

Steve frowns and looks down at the table. Bucky reaches over and squeezes his hand reassuringly. Steve swallows before saying, “My parents won’t be coming to the wedding. They’ve made that much clear.”

“...oh,” is Hank’s response. “Is it because of the androids, or…”

Steve looks back up at Hank. “I don’t know. They weren’t exactly friendly on the phone.”

Hank grabs Steve’s other hand and says, “Well, you should have started off with that, you fucking idiot. I’d be honored to walk you down the aisle.”

Steve beams, not able to form words at the moment. Bucky takes over his silence and questions Connor, saying, “Would you be my best man? It’s going to be a small wedding, so we’re only each going to have one person, and you’re the only person I would have chosen anyway.”

Connor smiles, saying, “Of course.”

Steve picks up a napkin and starts to wipe his eyes with it. Bucky rolls his eyes and pulls Steve close, hugging him from the side as Steve’s head nestles into Bucky’s chest. Steve looks up at Bucky and Bucky leans in, capturing Steve’s lips with his own. He pulls away only seconds later due to being out in public but smiles back down on Steve, who smiles back up through his tears. 

Androids are now officially part of the human population. Sure, there are still some laws that they need to work on, but they have enough now to be considered an equal human. For Bucky and Steve, they have everything they need. Family, friends, and, most importantly, each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's it! Thanks to all of you who have read, even with my messy schedule I tried to keep. Come on over to my [tumblr](https://pearlll09.tumblr.com/) if you wanna hang :)


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